Travelling in Style

All of our female reindeer are currently free-ranging on the Cairngorm mountains at the moment, so every morning we head out early, track them down and lead them to a suitable area to be fed. Today we moved them from one side of the ridge to the other, where they could enjoy some fresh grazing. Having led the majority of the herd out and settled them happily eating their breakfast, we had another quick drive round the roads to check that there were no others in sight.

Reindeer are very much a herd animal, and tend to stick together, though small groups will frequently splinter away, perhaps when they have a difference in opinion about which direction they should head! It’s fairly unusual for reindeer to head off alone, apart from at calving time, but there are a few of the independent older females who sometimes do wander away for a few days. We hadn’t seen one of our older girls, Esme, in a few days, but hadn’t been unduly worried as she’s a known “loner”.

Driving back to the other side of the ridge, we spied a lone reindeer making its determined way towards the car park. A glance through the binoculars informed us that yes, it was Esme! And she was looking in super condition. Our delight turned to slight consternation though – she was now left alone on the “wrong” side of the mountain, with the herd having moved on. Esme is a super sweet and tame lassie, and whilst we could have hiked over the ridge with her on a headcollar to reunite her with the herd, we wondered if we could save both her energy and ours (of course we were thinking about the fact that she’s an OAP rather than our own tiredness level…) and hop her into the back of the van…

Reindeer in the van
Esme in the van

Esme was delighted to see us, well, delighted to see the bag of feed anyway, and once we’d popped the back seats down to give her some more room, she gave no objections to following us into the van. She must have thought it was a definite upgrade on the usual trailer, with a much better view, and being allowed to munch her way through a bag of feed enroute was also an added bonus! A short 5-minute drive and it was time to emerge at the other car park nearer the herd. There was a car pulled up with a few people admiring the view, and the last thing they must have expected was for a reindeer to hop out of a van! Esme didn’t bat an eyelid at the whole experience, and was quickly reunited with the herd.

Reindeer never fail to amaze me with their no nonsense approach to life and quick assessment of whether unusual situations are anything to worry about. At the grand age of nearly 13, Esme has definitely sussed out that us humans are trustworthy, and as long as a bag of feed and a reassuring voice is on offer, she has no problem following us into slightly unorthodox situations!

Andi

3 Replies to “Travelling in Style”

  1. Lovely story about Esme! I’ve adopted her for 10 years or more now, so it’s great to hear that’s she’s in good condition!

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