December has been another mixed month for me in terms of work with time at home on the hills, and out and about on tour! Here at home, I’ve been on the hill working with the herd, taking lots of people up to meet the reindeer on Hill Trips, and helping to keep the office afloat at this incredibly busy time of year. I’ve also been on road again with Christmas teams doing parades and events in Strathaven, Dunkeld, Fife, and very locally in Carrbridge amongst other places. Once again, the reindeer were super and made me incredibly proud.
The Paddocks has also been open – hoorah! We’re still not allowed in the building, and it’s all quite basic at the moment, but at least we have had beautiful reindeer on display, and we have even been visited by Santa. Here’s just a few photos from December for you all.
4th of December: Earl Grey is one of the biggest calves of 2024. What a chunky boy, and a complete poser!4th of December: Cuppa and his funky “eyebrows” making him look super serious all the time.5th of December: The mallards often steal the show on a Hill Trip!6th of December: The team enjoying their lichen after a Christmas parade to the Benarty Centre, Fife.7th of December: Cowboy ready to pull the sleigh in Dunkeld. This is his first season as a sleigh puller and he’s an old pro already!8th of December: Chai was so relaxed behind the sleigh whilst waiting for Santa to arrive she laid down! 11th of December: A funny face from Mangetout!12th of December: Dad Ärta and his son Earl Grey, with matching white noses!13th of December: Scully is in great condition just now after having a year off motherhood, hopefully she may now be in calf. Fingers crossed for the spring. 14th of December: Latte at Landmark Forest Adventure Park in Carrbridge. Completely unfazed about the giant T-rex looming over the pen!15th of December: Christie and Morven. 15th of December: Maisie is a local lass who’s been working with us on weekends and during her school holidays, here she is with two “hats”, Beanie and Trilby!15th of December: Some of the lovely dogs posing by the fire in the shop, Fraoch, Elsie, Ginger, and Tiree! 18th of December: Scully, Christie, and Torch posing beautifully! There’s even a wee rainbow if you look super close. 20th of December: Irish being cute!20th of December: Mocha and her mum Vienna. Vienna has recently lost an antler this week.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our blog readers, we really do appreciate your support and hope to entertain you every Friday of 2025 too!
For anyone who didn’t read part 1 then check it out here!
Halter training:
October is halter training time for our reindeer, we will (temporarily) take the calves away from their mums and start doing some training. This is very helpful in case we need to catch them for any treatment in the future or walk them to a new area. Some of the well-trained, castrated reindeer end up doing some Christmas events in the festive season and sometimes the cattle will go to an event or show, needing to be halter trained.
Reindeer or cattle, the first time on a halter can be a bit difficult as it’s an unfamilar sensation having something on your face. We will try to give them lots of nice food and the best experience as possible. The second day will be much more relaxed for both handler and animal already, but is does take some work and patience to get them to walk nicely on a halter without them being stubborn or without any pulling.
Halter training with cattle can be a bit more dangerous as they are heavy in weight and pretty strong. Not only that, where reindeer physically can’t kick backwards with their rear legs, cattle can! At least, luckily both reindeer and cattle will not bite you, as they both don’t have upper teeth, but instead have a strong dental pad (gum without teeth).
One of the reasons why we halter train all our reindeer is so we can catch them out whilst free ranging incase we need to move them. This bunch of free rangers were easy to catch with that big bag of bribery next to Lisette!Halter reaining in Glen Nevis.
Relaxing:
Reindeer or cattle, they all do love a bit of relaxing time!!
Ted having a nap!Mairi enjoying the sun on her side.Kelpie enjoying the sun.Akubra enjoying some autumnal sunshine!Cowboy fast asleep.Dr Seuss relaxing, probably after eating lots of hand feed!
Green things(!):
Reindeer in the Cairngorms and Highland cattle in Glen Nevis, they all love the color green; bags, scoops, bins, or even green vans!
Reindeer calves eating out of the green bag – Tub, Magnum, Viennetta, and Mr Whippy!Beret seeing if we’ve got any extra food for her in our green bins in the hill enclosure.Enjoying a quick snack from a green scoop!Checking out Lisette’s green van!
Selfies:
Reindeer and cattle don’t mind a selfie or close-up photo either!
Max with his big wet nose.Beret and her lovely furry, warm nose!
Cow and calf:
Cow and calf reindeer, Scully and new-born Yukon.Cow and calf Highlanders!
Popularity:
Another thing they both have in common, they’re native to Scotland and tourists love seeing them!
Happy people on a Hill Trip visiting the reindeer.People enjoying seeing the Highland cow herd in Glen Nevis.
Reindeer used to be native to Scotland but went extinct. Nobody knows exactly when, but we think the last reindeer (still roaming in Caithness and Cairngorm area, the coldest places in the UK) went extinct around the 1000 years ago due to different reasons, such as range restriction and people overhunting them. In other areas of Britain, reindeer disappeared much earlier, due to natural climate change after the last ice-age, the habitat changed and there was less suitable food for this Artic animal.
We think Highland cattle have descended from the Egyptian Long horn cattle. These cattle were well established and domesticated in the Nile village around 6000 years ago. Neolithic farmers brought these cattle into Britain. The group of cattle settled in the Highlands had to adapt to the colder and windy weather, growing lots more hair!
Another story is, that the Celtic immigrant people brought their Short Horns, another old breed (all cattle likely come from the Aurochs, originating either in North India or Central Asia and spreading into North Africa and into Europe) to the Scottish Island, where again, they had to adapt to the harsh weather. These cattle, black in color, were first called Kyloe (from the way they swam or were ferried across the kyles) and are now known as Highland cattle, mixing with the cattle on the mainland and domesticated into different colors, mostly red haired due to Queen Victoria’s preference. The Highland cattle herd book was established in 1885.
After the reindeer got re-introduced in Scotland to the Cairngorms (still the coldest place in the UK) in 1952, people fell in love with them and the Reindeer Centre has been taking people to see the reindeer on Hill Trips or in our Paddocks.
On the Glen Nevis Estate I’ve started taking people up to see the cattle since last year, March-October, either on a guided walk in the Glen or on the Hairy Cow Experience (find out more here: https://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/activities).
November has been a very mixed month for me in terms of work! Here at home I’ve been on the hill working with the herd, taking lots of people up to meet the reindeer on Hill Trips, and spending most afternoons sleigh training or working though the gazillions of adoptions that are coming in ahead of Christmas. I’ve also been on road with Christmas teams doing parades in Dumfries and as far south as Wilmslow. The reindeer were super and made me incredibly proud. Biggest shout out to Akubra who pulled the sleigh like an old pro in his first public events!
31st of October: I had to cheat a little as turns out I was rubbish at taking photos during the first week of November so here’s Feta and her calf Earl Grey from the last day of October!31st of October: Another one from October for good measure – here’s Helsinki and her son Irish!7th of November: Juniper! The only ‘polled’ reindeer in our herd (meaning she doesn’t grow antlers).7th of November: Vanilla looking beautiful. One of three pure white reindeer in the herd.8th of November: If there’s a white bag on the hill, Beanie is never too far away!9th of November: Mel and I took this handsome bunch to a primary school for the day. They did a super job. In the team was Dr Seuss, Clouseau, Akubra, Magnum, Espresso and Irish.12th of November: Lisette feeding a lovely bunch of free rangers. 16th of November: Dr Seuss back on tour! Here he is gently resting his chin on the sleigh before a parade. Clearly trying to impress the crowds as he is usually known for causing mild havoc by wrecking our decorations!17th of November: The boys resting in Dunfermline with Magnum at the front. They were back on the hill in the evening.19th of November: Akubra back on the hill after a weekend away! He was a total star and pulled the sleigh in two parades.19th of November: Feeding the calves out of the bags. Earl Grey on the left and Pukka on the right both with a foot in the air!20th of November: Adzuki looking very smart in the snow!21st of November: Turtle enjoying the snow!21st of November: Christie alongside a snow bunting! I love these incredibly hardy birds! A flock of around 40 came and joined us on the Hill Trip.25th of November: The snow had mostly gone after Storm Bert but Scully and Feta found a patch.25th of November: Pip proving that reindeer can’t bite! Look at the small row of bottom teeth and the hard palate at the top of her mouth. 27th of November: Latte coming in for a close up. What a funny face!
In early October, a few of us were up the hill with the reindeer at about 8pm (the time on the camera was set wrong – definitely wasn’t 3am!), when it was already pitch dark. One of our friends, Sam, had a thermal camera with him that he was playing with, so we thought a few of his photos would make an interesting blog subject.
We always talk about how good a reindeer’s coat is during the Hill Trips – up to 10,000 hairs per square inch of the skin, with a percentage of those hairs (the ‘guard hairs’) being hollow to trap in body heat, and the remaining hairs forming an incredibly dense undercoat. This coat is designed to keep reindeer alive in incredibly cold environments; the recorded coldest temperature that reindeer have been found alive in is -72 degrees Celsius. Thankfully in Siberia and not Scotland!
These are female reindeer Turtle and Mangetout in this picture. You can see that they don’t show up as much as you might expect, and this is down to that super efficient thick coat that is trapping their body warmth in. Most heat is lost around their eyes and muzzles, and you can see heat retained within their coats where the hair is slightly parted.
A little bit of heat is being lost around the base of Scully’s antlers too, but her antlers themselves are in hard bone just now, with no velvet skin covering them – as you can see there is no heat at all coming from them.
Another setting on the camera, showing in colour this time. Again the eyes and muzzle are most obvious, this time on Merida, along with her legs where her coat isn’t as thick.
This photo is interesting for a couple of reasons. This is me (Hen), and look at how much heat is being lost at my neck. My body is showing up relatively well too, although perhaps not as much as expected – however in this picture I’m wearing a long-sleeved thermal top, a t-shirt, a jumper, a bodywarmer and a waterproof jacket, as well as a neck buff and gloves (it was a very cold night, in my defense)! Yet still my body is showing up as warmer on average than a reindeer’s – with a couple less layers on I would have been glowing like the sun!
The other (more) interesting thing in this photo is the set of antlers in the middle of it, belonging to Pip’s big female calf, who’s grown amazing antlers for a calf this year. Unlike all the adult reindeer in these pics, the calf’s antlers are still covered with velvet skin – but one is dark and one is light. At this time of year the blood supply to the calves’ antlers is cutting off, so here the right hand antler is still vascular (has a blood supply) whilst the left hand one has already lost it’s supply. Sure enough when Sam pointed this out, I touched her antlers briefly and the right hand one was still warm but the left one stone cold. How cool – we’d have never have known without Sam’s camera!
The castrated male reindeer mostly still have velvet skin on their antlers just now, but unfortunately there were none in this group that we could point the camera at – it would be interesting to see how vascular they are still, if at all. Another time! In the meantime I’ll stand by my statement that antlers are one of the coolest things in the animal kingdom!
Many thanks to Sam Ecroyd for the use of his photos for this blog.
September is a beautiful time of year. The weather has been completely mixed this year – we’ve had the first snow on the plateau and then HOT summery temperatures! The reindeer also look fantastic with fully grown antlers and fresh winter coats growing through.
We’ve been doing lots of free range missions to bring in the cows and their calves which is always fun. The bulls and cows have been stripping the velvet and getting a wee bit more feisty and hormonal in preparation for the upcoming rut.
The calves have also been given a name but as always we don’t post any names online until our adopters have their newsletters. Maybe by next month’s photo blog!
I’m running away on holiday for the last week of September hence the photos stopping a wee bit early this month. I’ve selected a few more on other days to make up for it though! 😉
2nd of September: Cassie heading up to feed the free rangers, Dante looking back at the camera.3rd of September: Out on a free range mission! Came across 6 cows all looking super! It wasn’t going to be possible to move them by myself so I called for back-up from Reindeer House. Whilst I was waiting for Lisette to get to me, Juniper and I had a little rest!9th of September: Christie and her calf both looking great! Christie is a fairly phenomenal lass – she’s now had 4 big beautiful boys in a row and has enough extra energy to grow a super set of antlers.9th of September: Found these three gorgeous free rangers on the road so took them up to a nice spot away so as not to cause a traffic jam! From L to R we have Borlotti, Shannon and Turtle.11th of September: The first two faces I see on the hill – what a lovely way to start the day! Morse and Dr Seuss.11th of September: Morven looking good after a couple of years off motherhood. She’s grown her usual lovely set of antlers and will hopefully run with a bull this autumn.11th of September: Flax and her calf.12th of September: Isla and Cassie feeding the calves out of the bags. We do this to give the calves an extra bit of food before the greedy adults eat it all, and also to get them nice and tame the quickest way possible!12th of September: Flax starting to strip the velvet (see her pic from the day before!).12th of September: Our regular volunteer Emm leading Cowboy and Mivvi back into the hill enclosure. 13th of September: Sika is 16 years old, one of the oldest in the herd. She’s never had an adopter in her life until very recently!! She’s actually very shy but in recent years has cottoned on to the contents of our white feed bags. This is her licking her lips at the very thought of it!13th of September: Holy Moley decided to grace us with her presence. She was out free roaming but popped into the enclosure with a bunch of other cows looking for a free lunch!13th of September: It was a busy day for me. After the morning Hill Trip I went out on a reindeer retrieval mission! This is the gorgeous Fern. She’s 17 and the current oldest member of our herd.16th of September: Torch’s lovely calf chilling out in the sun!16th of September: Volunteer Emm and some of lovely ‘single ladies’! Mississippi, Scully (who may be Emm’s favourite in the herd but don’t tell the others that), Zambezi, and Nuii.17th of September: Athens looking very handsome!17th of September: Calves feeding out of the bag at the start of a Hill Trip.19th of September: A hot day when you’re in your winter coat! Adzuki cooling himself down by standing in a bog.22nd of September: Christie leading the herd out of the mist. To her right is Feta’s calf and Beanie.22nd of September: Feta’s calf is a chunky lad – he’s a lovely friendly lad.
This is the second installment of Emm’s fantastic blog. Read part one by clicking HERE.
Emm and Druid on a Hill Trip.
The Breeding Season
Whilst I was there, there were 2 bulls with their girls in the hill enclosure separated in different areas. One group was Sherlock and his girls over on Silver Mount. He was laid back. Then the other group was Morse and his girls. Morse was a bit more aggressive and would pace the fence grunting. He was very protective of his girls.
Sherlock with his girls.Morse doing an excellent job as a breeding bull.
Chilling With Reindeer
Fiona, Joe and Andi went to Sherlock and his girls over on Silver Mount, the big hill in the hill enclosure, to check temperatures and do some vaccinations. Lotti and I moved Morse and his girls to a different part of the hill enclosure. We separated him with a few of his girls into a separate pen area so we were safe. Reindeer bulls with their girls can be very aggressive and can charge at you. We had moved them so we could give them vaccinations. Mushy was being chased around by some of the reindeer but it is not good to have them running around before a vaccination so I helped Lotti separate Mushy and Pinto off together into their own area. Suddenly, a mountain hare ran out of the shed and stopped in the middle of the reindeer. It was about 2 metres away from me. It was so exciting. The mountain hare and the reindeer stared at each other for a few seconds then the reindeer charged at it and then it ran away. What a lovely experience. Lotti and I then had to wait for Andi, Fiona and Joe. Whilst we waited, we chilled with the reindeer. I got to spend some quality time with my adopted reindeer called Scully. It was so nice and special spending quality time with her. I hadn’t been able to see her much as she had been in with Morse. Some of Morse’s girls had calves with them and I hadn’t got to know these calves yet so I was able to get to know them whilst Morse was separated. When Fiona, Joe and Andi got to us, some of Morse’s girls got vaccinations. Andi and I put Morse’s and his girls’ breakfast down in their usual part of the hill enclosure and then Morse and his girls were let back out to have their breakfast.
Emm enjoying spending time with Scully who is looking particularly cheeky!
Walking Calves and Reindeer Around Glenmore
To get the calves used to being handled and having head collars on, we take them away from their mums in the hill enclosure for a few days and keep them down in the Paddocks. We take about 2 calves at a time. In the mornings before the Reindeer Centre opens, we take some of the Paddock adult reindeer and the calves out on a walk around Glenmore. We sandwich the calves between the adult reindeer. The adult reindeer are the role models for the calves. One morning, I walked Dr Seuss, Bond and the 2 calves Popsicle and Vanilla to the Pine Martin Bar and back with Hen and Amy. I led Bond. On another morning with Mel and Lisette we walked Athens, Clouseau, Frost, Dr Seuss and the calf called Zoom. This time I led Dr Seuss and Frost.
Reindeer Centre and Office Jobs
There were always lots of jobs to do at the Reindeer Centre. On some afternoons, I poo picked the woods where the Paddock reindeer go at night. If reindeer have been changed in the Paddocks, I switched the reindeer ID cards over in the exhibition so visitors would know who was who. I checked the adopters gift packs to make sure everything was there, tidied and restocked the shop. The magnets and glass reindeer were very popular. Some afternoons, I tidied the exhibition and antler making area and wiped down the surfaces. I put strawboard in the adopters envelopes to protect the adoption gift packs. For the October Newsletter, they put a photo of the reindeer in with the newsletter with a sticky label on the back giving update of what the reindeer have been up to so I stuck the sticky labels onto the back of the photos.
I also talked to visitors in the Paddocks and answered their questions. One afternoon I was talking to a visitor and a child ran to get me as Popsicle the calf had got her antler in a wire mesh bit of the fence. I untangled Popsicle’s antler and she was ok.
Reindeer Off to the Free-range
With Lotti and Cameron we led 5 older girls from the top corridor in the hill enclosure back on to the free range. This was the time of year that the reindeer would be moved to the free-range for the winter. The reindeer were Dixie, Lulu, Fly, Wapiti and Pavlova. Lotti put spot on (protecting from ticks) on to Fly. The other 4 reindeer had already had it. Lotti took a photo of Wapiti for their adoption photo and Dixie came and ate out of the hand feed bag I was holding. When we let them go it was so lovely seeing them go out onto the free-range.
Dixie, Lulu, Pavlova, Fly and Wapiti heading out to free range.
Splitting Calves from their Mums
One morning I helped to move some of the calves around between the Paddocks and hill. First, we took Frost, Clouseau , Sunny and Zoom out of the paddocks and took them up into the hill enclosure and I led Clouseau and Zoom on this occasion. The 2 calves we wanted to take back down were with their mums and the bull Morse so we had to split Morse and his girls first to get the 2 calves and their mums. The 2 calves were Popsicle and Vanilla. Popsicle’s mum is Caterpillar and Vanilla’s mum is Ochil. After we managed to get them we put Morse and the rest of his girls back into their part of the hill enclosure. We took Caterpillar and her calf Popsicle, Ochil and her calf Vanilla, as well a 2 other reindeer Bond and Olmec off the hill. When we got to Brenda we loaded Bond, Olmec and the 2 calves into Brenda whilst Andi took the calves’ mums back up the hill to Morse. We then took the reindeer to the Paddocks at the Centre. In the Paddocks, Popsicle and Vanilla grunted for their mums for a bit as it was the first time they had been away from their mums. They would see their mums in a few days time after getting used to be handled and walked on a head collar.
Vanilla before coming down to the Paddocks.
Hill Trips
On the Hill Trips, I often would escort the back of the line of people whilst we walked to the hill enclosure and reindeer. I would sometimes put some food out for the reindeer and then count them to make sure all the reindeer were there. I would sometimes give Sunny his milk.
Emm bottle feeding Sunny.
I sometimes did the hand feed talk to the group of visitors so they knew what to do in hand feeding and what to expect. I gave out the hand feed so they could hand feed the reindeer. I talked to people and answered their questions. I sometimes took photos of visitors if they wanted photos taken with the reindeer.
This all gives you an idea of the many things that I do when volunteering with the reindeer and herders. It is such a special place and I love my time no matter how busy I am. I am really looking forward to my next trip.
It’s the post-Christmas crash. The time of year where most people have completely de-railed from their usual eating habits and are feeling overwhelmed by how much food has been consumed in such a short space of time. Bodies are working at their very best to digest food as quickly as it has been eaten and to be honest with ourselves, not too much will change before the New Year. For some of our reindeer in the herd this food coma state happens all too often and not just around the festive season. We as herders have come together to create an official Top 5 list announcing the greediest reindeer in our herd for 2022. For those of you who know our reindeer well this may not come as a surprise. We created a short list of 10 reindeer before putting it to a vote to get our finalists. Without further ado starting from 5th place, we have…
Joint 5th – Pagan
Just squeezing her way into the top 5, Pagan isn’t a reindeer who is particularly pushy when it comes to food, but she will seize any opportunity that comes her way and is usually always the first reindeer to come down the hill and meet us in the morning. This year we decided to cut off Pagan’s antlers because she is very good at using them on visitors, herders, and other reindeer. With no antlers on her head, she is the master of stealthily getting into the food bags, blending in when we allow the younger calves to eat first. On Hill Trips Pagan loves handfeeding from visitors inhaling the food as quickly as possible. This has been passed on to her 2-year-old daughter Pumpkin who is also very greedy when it comes handfeeding and certainly deserves a mention.
Pagan in October 2022. The stare all herders are familiar with (and slightly scared off)! Pagan’s bulging eyes whenever food is nearby!Pumpkin, Pagan’s daughter, has definitely inherited her mum’s greedy streak and loves her handfeed. October 2022.
Joint 5th – Magnum
Magnum is probably our largest calf this year and already has a ferocious appetite. He spent the first 3-4 months of his life free ranging before coming into out hill enclosure for the rest of the year and instantly became obsessed with food. When we feed the calves, he will bully his way into a bag and keep his head in there for as long as possible. He’s also devised a way of making holes in the bags so he can steal food when they are closed. We do like him as herders, but he is a real handful and a pest when we are trying to feed the reindeer. At only 7 months old, I worry just how greedy this cheeky chappy will become!
Butter wouldn’t melt in this cute pic of Magnum with his mum Torch in September 2022. It’s a different story a few months later…Magnum the food monster and destroyer of feed bags! November 2022.
4th – Scully
The apple didn’t fall far when it comes to Scully. Taking after her mother Screel, she has a real appetite for food and has spent almost the whole year free ranging. It’s testament to how good the grazing is for our reindeer on the open hillside as Scully is now officially the fattest reindeer in our herd after a recent condition score on all the reindeer. Even at 4 years old Scully still feels she has the right to put her head into a bag of feed like our calves and I don’t see that habit changing anytime soon. She’s a nice reindeer with the body of a sumo wrestler!
Scully, looking round and moody, as she attempts to stare us down for more food! April 2022.
3rd – Kipling
Kipling is a one in a million, this is very biased because she is my favourite reindeer. For the last 3 – 4 years she has been exceptionally greedy and will always be the first reindeer waiting to handfeed from visitors, where she will try her very best to feed from every single person. When Kipling had her first calf Pip, Kipling would happily leave her for the chance of a quick feed even if her calf got lost in the process, we would constantly have to remind her that she was a mother a food wasn’t everything in the world. I’ve seen her so full of food in recent months that she acts and looks ill. Unfortunately, some other herders have become a little less patient with her is recent times, trying to get the attention of other reindeer is now an almost impossible job when Kipling is around as she won’t leave you alone if there is a bag of food in your hand.
Kipling on the hunt for a feed bag!Kipling coming up for air very briefly as she inhales her food! Next to her is Kipling’s younger sister Juniper.
2nd – Dr Seuss
Anyone who knows the reindeer herd particularly well might be surprised that Dr Seuss is not first in our 2022 list of greed. If he was a human you would probably class him as morbidly obese however fat reserves are very important for a reindeer to see them through the harsh winter months, even if he does have some to spare. Dr Seuss has been a greedy lad from birth and absolutely loves his food. He can be a bit of a bully when it comes to food sometimes, but he never tends to be that bad. Like Kipling, he tries his very best to consume as much hand feed as physically possible when meeting visitors and will happily plough his way through a group of people when he see’s food from a far. The problem is that because he is so big and determined, if he ever manages to get his head in a bag of feed it extremely difficult to get him out again. With Dr Seuss in second place its time to announce the winner….
Dr Seuss in a food coma after a Hill Trip,A slightly unflattering angle of Dr Seuss’ rotund belly.
1st – Aztec
Coming in first place for nearly every reindeer herder, Aztec is officially the greediest reindeer of 2022. He’s a fun and energetic reindeer who acts like food is the only thing on his mind. You may not see him on Hill Trips very much because he is sometimes banned for his bad behaviour and greed when it comes to handfeeding, he’s exceptionally pushy and forceful you could be lead in to thinking that he never gets enough food. Aztec is also very athletic and uses this to his advantage when it come to greed, he will happily jump over a fence or display pen if he sees a bag of lichen and at the front of sleigh once dragged all remaining reindeer and herders into a pen when he saw the food bowls. I suspect Aztec’s greed comes from his mother Gazelle who is also known to be very vigorous at times when it comes to food. For this year he is the winner, but I can’t decide what to give him a prize, surely not more food?
Aztec looking all cute and innocent – May 2022.Aztec on a Christmas event in Gleneagles (and the fence he effortlessly popped over in pursuit of more food!) – December 2022.
I have been here at the Reindeer Centre (on and off) for eight years now, the last three has been the longest stint I have done with the Reindeer Centre. Now admittedly this is mostly due to Covid, but if it wasn’t for the Reindeer Centre’s generosity in keeping me around as the world went in to lockdown the week that I was meant to be leaving, I probably would never have stuck around and got more involved with the surrounding area.
I’m not one for talking a lot, so here are some of my favourite photos from the past three years with some words.
I usually work with the reindeer through the winter, as this is the time of the year they are really in their element, pun intended. The moment this photo was taken it was wind chill of -7 with wind gusts of 60mph. It is something I truly wish everyone who visits the reindeer could witness, to see their greatness, as the reindeer are behaving as though it was a mild autumn day.This was an incredible moment, during the calving season of 2020, I was lucky enough to watch the birth of Legume (mother Scully) and see him take his first steps. Not something you can see every day, reindeer being a secretive animal especially when it comes to calving. This is a photo I took of Roman silhouetted on the skyline, I thought it was a good.I think this photo of Tiree, a Reindeer House dog, does a good job summing up of a feeling I, and I feel a few other herders, get at times through the Christmas season.This photo of Spartan and Roman looks very impressive and in the heat of a fight. Far from it, in truth, this was just a half-hearted tussle, preparation before the rut. But looks cool.Something that I take a lot of joy from seeing is a reindeer yawning, I manage to catch one in action, though you are really missing the full affect without the noise.The reindeer being semi-domesticated are relatively easy to work with (especially the castrates) but then there are times you remember that they are still an animal, and not ones for negotiation. On this day the rut was in full swing, and Morse (a breeding bull) hopped the fence, as he found the cows on the other side of the fence too enticing. Joe and I did manage to return him back to his group, though all the herding was done a good 20ft away from him. I took this photo when we were in the shed, I find it fascinating to see such a difference in the reindeer when in rut, not only physical, but behaviour.Throughout the past three years, I have worked on many maintenance projects, one of the on-going jobs is the boardwalk up in our hill enclosure (which every slat, post, and nail has been carried up – no helicopters) this summer I, along with the help of others, reinstated the top platform, which I was very pleased to finish with some flair! And pride in every step. I hope you get to see it someday.
It is now officially calving season!! As I write this blog it is the last day of April, and we already have two new calves in our ranks. All the calves will be named in September, as is always the case. In fact, every Cairngorm reindeer has a name, and this follows a designated theme each year. Whilst we have not yet decided on the theme for the 2022 calves, we will often be asked about previous themes. In this blog I’ll describe previous themes. Feel free to leave your ideas for themes in our comments section.
2007: A theme centred around all things ‘Green’ (green) – Fern, Fly.
2006: Popstars (silver) – Elvis, Enya, Lulu.
2005: Countries (yellow) – Malawi.
Three white-nosed reindeer: Beanie (2021), Dr Seuss (2017) and Spartan (2016).Fly named in 2007’s “green things” theme – so she’s named after a greenfly!Jester (2021), Ochil (2015), and Feta (2013).Oatcake (2009) and Scully (from the X-Files, 2018).Okapi and Addax – both named after other “horned or antlered animals” (2008).Mum and daughter pair, Hobnob (2009) and Mushy (2020). Sometimes we try to be clever and match the calf’s name with his or her mum’s name. In this cash Mushy (named after mushy peas) was linked to Hobnob (the cakes and biscuits year), because hobnobs go mushy when you dip them in tea!
So, there you have it, that is a list of the naming themes (with the corresponding tag colour and some examples of reindeer names) that are currently in circulation with our reindeer. Now, when you visit again you may have a better idea of how old the reindeer you are feeding may be. Although, as you can see, some colours are repeated which can cause confusion. For example, if you see an orange tag, you may not know if this reindeer was born in 2008 or 2017. Well, each reindeer also has a number on their tag and this number corresponds to the reindeer name on our systems. It is a legal requirement to have a tag on any animal that is transported within the U.K., so we’ve made it work for us with specific colours and numbers that help us identify the reindeer if required.
Juniper (2020) showing off her grey ear-tag.
It is worth noting that we also have just under 10 male reindeer still with us that were born in Sweden between the years of 2009 and 2011 and brought to Scotland to provide new genetics for our herd. These older boys were named individually and not within a theme. Spike, Caesar, Houdini, Bovril, and Hook are some examples of these boys’ names, and they have a range of numbers and colours in their ear tags.
Bovril (photo from 2020) was used as a breeding bull here on Cairngorm for several years after being imported from Sweden in 2011. He was named by Fiona, just because she likes the name!
It is not just ‘the Swedes’ that have names that don’t fit into a theme. Occasionally we will get reindeer where a nickname from early on in their life appears to stick and stay with the reindeer. Holy Moley, our television superstar, had such an eventful initial few days to her life that one herder exclaimed ‘holy moley!’ after being informed of events (she fell down a hole in a boulder field). Svalbard is another example. He was supposed to be called Meccano to fit in with the 2011 naming theme of Games & pastimes, but that name never stuck due to him looking incredibly alike a Svalbard reindeer (small and dumpy). Hamish is a final example of being an exception to the naming rule. Hamish was born in 2010 and unfortunately wasn’t being fed by his mother. This led to him being bottle-fed by the herders for the first part of his life so that he could grow into a big, strong Scottish reindeer and as such was given a big, strong Scottish name…Hamish.
Hamish in 2019 – still a big strong reindeer and character in our herd.
Previous themes, prior to 2005, yielded some great names. We have been naming the reindeer after a theme since 1971. It has gotten to the point where a lot of the more obvious themes have been chosen by now. Some examples of previous themes are: Musical instruments & genres (2000), Colours (1999), Sweets & chocolate bars (1998), Fruits & nuts (1992), Wines & whiskies (1991), Herbs & spices (1988), Scottish islands (1987), Fish (1984), Trees (1982 & 1971), Mountains (1980), Weather (1975 & 1996), and Birds (1972). Before 1971, Mr. Utsi and Dr. Lindgren (the original owners of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd) named the male reindeer after Scottish places (e.g., Aviemore) and the female reindeer had human names (e.g., Mary).
If you have ever visited the Paddocks and Exhibition you may have noticed the timeline of naming themes, starting in 1971.
In our office we have a folder with naming theme suggestions collected throughout the years. I have just had a look through it and some of the suggested themes are: Vegetables, Ice creams & lollies, Mushrooms & toadstools, Condiments & spreads, Indian foods, Teas & coffees, Cocktails (as you can see, we enjoy our food and drink here), Disney side-kick characters, Mountain ranges, Sea creatures, Gods & goddesses, Rivers of the world, and Dances. Who knows what themes 2022 and beyond will bring? Once we decide, the theme and each reindeer name are revealed to adopters in the autumn newsletter.
After the busy Christmas season the entire reindeer herd free-range, either here on the Cairngorms or on the second site over near Glenlivet. The staff working at the Reindeer Centre take care and deal with any reindeer related antics on the Cairngorms. Meanwhile the reindeer free-ranging on the second site are looked after predominantly by Tilly and the farm crew.
On the days when Tilly needs an extra pair of hands, the shout goes out and one of us herders drive around the hills to help out, never quite knowing what the day will involve until we’re there! I answered the call to help in early January, and what a great day I had! By the time I arrived Tilly had already been out to call in the reindeer. Thankfully reindeer are ruled by their stomachs, so the offer of a free meal was too tempting as Tilly had successfully managed to call almost all of the herd into the corral. Little did they know it happened to be routine temperature checking day…!
After a quick de-tour to help feed the pigs, five of us headed on to the hills on quad bikes. Tilly, Colin S, volunteers Davey and Christine, plus myself. The small number of reindeer who hadn’t come to Tilly’s earlier call, clearly decided they were missing out as they were waiting for us when we arrived.
Reindeer waiting in the corral after Tilly had called them down earlier that morning.
I’ve never been to Sweden, or any other reindeer herding nation, maybe it was just the blue sky, cold temperature and low sunlight, but it felt like I was somewhere further afield than the Cromdales! I can imagine the corral that Alan has built up on the hill would be little like the one Sami people might use. It’s more rustic than the enclosure on Cairngorm where we take our Hill Trips, but does it’s job perfectly.
There is a corridor which goes around the main corral so the five of us were able to gently push the reindeer out of the corral and into the corridor. This allowed us to open the external gate to the hill allowing the latecomers to enter, whilst not letting any suspicious reindeer out!
Reindeer patiently waiting in the corridor for their turn to meet the thermometer!Tilly calling the latecomers in to the corral, whilst the others wait in the corridor.
We gently pushed the reindeer in batches along the corridor into a small pen at the end where we took the temperatures of all the reindeer, calling out their names to Christine who was armed with a list of the herd and a clipboard, checking everybody off and keeping us right. Once each batch of reindeer had a thermometer in the bottom and was sprayed between the legs with a treatment to prevent ticks from biting they were released back on to the hill. They can’t have had a bad experience as they didn’t dash for the high tops, rather they just milled around the outside waiting for the rest of the herd, and most importantly for their well-deserved dinner! It was a very fun way to spend a day and thankfully all the reindeer were fine and well.
Christine ready with her clipboard.Scully on the left and Butter in the middle waiting for their turn – looking a bit suspicious!Released back on to the hill after their quick health check!They didn’t wander off too far as they knew they’d be rewarded with a tasty meal!Colin S feeding the herd after everybody was checked and released back out on to the Cromdales. Elvis, the oldest male in the herd at almost 16 years old, very used to routine temperature checks!
