Memorable reindeer – Page 5 – The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

27th January 201713th March 2024

Emm Cassidy Volunteer Blog 2

The second installment in Emm Cassidy’s volunteering blog. This is the second of three and this week Emm got to meet lots of dogs as well as the reindeer!

Day 2

I turned up at Reindeer House at 8am forgetting it was an 8:30am starts as it was a week day and I met Dave who is originally from New Zealand. When Imogen arrived she started doing some knitting, which I found interesting and I enjoyed talking about knitting with her as my Granny had knitted clothes for my teddies. With Imogen, I did poo picking in the paddocks whilst the others went to check the reindeer on the hill and give them their breakfast. Some reindeer had been in the extra paddock on the Saturday when it was the changeover day where they had been swapping reindeer from Tilly’s farm, the hill enclosure and the paddocks. One was Boris, a lovely reindeer with an odd shaped nose who is Mo’s cousin. We put out breakfast for Beastie, Ost, Aonach and Nutti (the 4 paddock reindeer) in 4 bowls and then put lichen on top of each. Imogen said we don’t mix the reindeer feed and the lichen together as the reindeer don’t like that.

I went with Dave on the 11am hill trip. He wears a really cool green hat with a ptarmigan feather sticking out of it. When Dave did the introduction talk in the carpark, I realised that different reindeer herders had different sayings when they gave their talks. I thought that is really nice and makes the hill tour their own. When most people had gone, we started to make our way down to the enclosure gate. We found the reindeer relaxing and lying down again by the fence sunbathing! I was slowly identifying a few individuals too as I had been making notes on my herd list every time I go up there.

glenshee-and-sargassp — Glenshee and Sargasso chilling out in the sun

I ate my lunch in the front garden looking out on to the mountains and trees with Fiona and we talked about lots of things. I then played fetch with the 3 dogs and they barked with excitement all wanting the toy – bless.

On the 2:30pm hill trip, which I did with Abby, we met Fran and her mum. Fran is a research student doing a study on where the reindeer graze each day, with radio collars on 6 reindeer in the hill enclosure. It was very interesting and I was there when we took the radio collars off them and she showed me them and how they worked. She also had made them reindeer proof and weather proof. Fran found out why Bourbon (who had a radio collar on) had a poorly tummy by looking back at the data where he had been the night before. It turned out Bourbon was down in the forest eating the wrong type of mushrooms.

I found out my mum and dad had seen me through binoculars and when I got back to my car, they had left a note saying:

3:30pm, lol! Saw you leading them up! Ha Ha! We were up the top looking down!! Mum, Dad xx

Me and Fiona were on duty to give the paddock reindeer their tea and put them to bed in the woods. I put the dark grain pellets in their trough in their stable then went to get some buckets of reindeer feed and lichen. The reindeer were getting very excited as there was food so they followed me up to their troughs. Whilst I put out the reindeer feed and their lichen on top I had to dodge their massive antlers. It was quite funny as one reindeer was trying to eat from the bucket whilst I poured the reindeer feed in the trough. We then closed the paddocks for the night.

Day 3

Met Imogen’s dog called Brock, Dave’s dog called Tui and Alex (Fiona’s brother) and his dog Tip. At one point, there was 6 dogs in Reindeer House. I put Dave’s hat on Brock and took a photo of him, he looked so cute. I met Sarah who is a part time reindeer herder. Later we separated 8 reindeer from the herd and Fiona showed me how to put a head collar on a reindeer which I enjoyed learning about. I put a head collar on Blue and Duke. In the shed, we had 5 yearlings which included Scolty and Bhuachaille, then a 2 year old called Baltic and the 2 older reindeer called Blue and Duke (the role models) who will show the younger reindeer how to be led and behave on a head collar. For training, we went on a walk around the top enclosure. I led Duke and Baltic up the hill.

Baltic was stubborn at first but then Duke started trying it on as I was new to this. But by the top of the hill, Duke knew who the boss was and Baltic was happier with being led as he was getting used to it. The training is important for the reindeer as this will get them used to being handled, health checked and to become brilliant Christmas Reindeer.

On my 2 hill trips today, I herded all the reindeer out the shed as they were all cooling off in the shade. The shed doesn’t look like it can fit 41 reindeer in but it does, it is like Doctor Who’s Tardis! One time when I was herding them out of the shed, I realised that I hadn’t seen Blue, I found him by the shed asleep. Blue, who is deaf, didn’t hear his reindeer friends move on – bless him. Near the end of the hill trip, the reindeer leisurely make their way up to the shed gate knowing they will be let back in soon. I really like this time as it is just us reindeer herders approaching them after everybody has left.

We are met by reindeer lying down relaxing and sunbathing. I really enjoyed that quality time relaxing with them and sitting by them giving them some fuss, talking to them and getting to know them more. This is where I did my selfie with Mo!

We then let them into the shed for shade if they wanted it before we went back down to Reindeer House. I also learnt the reindeer language today which Utsi did with the reindeer.

Day 4

In the morning, we counted and herded the reindeer into the front enclosure and gave them their breakfast. Kota and Boxer didn’t seem themselves as they were very slow about moving into the front enclosure with the herd so we took them into the shed to check them over. They had their temperatures taken which revealed they both had high temperatures. That can be a bit dangerous for reindeer so Hen gave them both injections to bring their temperature down. Boxer then had an infected antler treated and then had sun cream on to protect his antler. We rewarded Boxer with some lichen. Kota and Boxer were so brave. We then put them out in the pen near the shed enclosure making sure they had plenty of food and where we can keep an eye on them.

We then let the reindeer into the shed as Hen needed to fly spray (citronella) them to keep the flies and midges off their antlers. Hen did the spraying in two groups as it would be chaos if all the reindeer were in at the same time. Mo stood quietly in a corner behind me after he had his done as he realised if he kept running around that he would get more spray on him. I gave him a big fuss and talked to him saying he was a very clever reindeer.

I did the introduction talk at the start of the 11am hill trip and the herd history talk at Utsi’s Bridge on the 2:30pm hill trip. That was such a massive thing for me to do. I was so proud of myself.

Whilst I was poo picking the paddocks, mum visited and Imogen told my mum how well I had done that day with doing the two talks. Everyone was so proud of me and I was very proud of myself and I was getting so much more confident dealing with new people.

Emm

30th December 201613th March 2024

Rounding up 2016

2016 has been a very busy year for us here at the Reindeer Centre for both us herders and the reindeer. Of course, the reindeer have been the stars of the show and us herders have just played background roles, so I thought to end the year we would have a little blog with some great pictures of the superstars themselves.

I have included pictures from our Trip advisor page as well as our Instagram account and people who have tagged us on Instagram and Facebook, and our own personal images. I have tried to credit the rightful owner but if anyone sees their picture and it is not credited, please email us at info@cairngormreindeer.co.uk and I will try to rectify this.

Bhuachaille and Steve Talbott posing in front of Meall a’ Bhuachaille in the winter. Photo by Dee Marie.

12705414_1531217160514691_8181516707522689420_n — Food please! Dixie this winter looking for a tasty snack. Photo by Candice Bell.

mo and julie.jpg — Julie Boothby feeding Mo in the autumn, photo by Howard Boothby

fullsizerender — Orkeny getting lots of love and attention from Laura McLeod. Photo by Laura McLeod

15109618_10211141227306809_3177220872204179102_n — A great shot of Louise O’Shea feeding Gazelle. Gazelle looks delighted! Taken by Martin Hipkin

Thanks for such a great 2016 and hopefully 2017 will be just as successful!

Happy New Year!

All at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre

23rd December 201613th March 2024

Olympic

We all have favourite reindeer in the herd and over the years I had a very special reindeer, Beauty, who I hand-reared, back in 1993. Beauty’s mother Sorrel died when Beauty was born and I became her mother, a relationship which lasted her whole life even though she had calves of her own. Indeed I felt a bit like a granny as a result!

Beauty died an old lady and for many, many years there was never really a reindeer for me who filled the gap. There have been some great characters since Beauty but none of them were really special enough to replace her. Various reindeer were hand-reared, but not solely by me and although each reindeer has a distinct character there was no real favourite. But over the last 4 years a reindeer has grown on me and now I can honestly say, I have a favourite again.

Olympic was born in 2012, in the year of the London Olympics, hence his name. His mother Glacier came from a long line of white reindeer and so when Olympic was born dark coloured, that was a bit of a surprise to say the least.

olympic-0113 — Olympic with mother, Lilibet

So he was the ‘black sheep of the family’. He grew tame and friendly like all the other calves once they are handled, indeed Olympic became quite outrageous when it came to hand-feeding, terrorising many an unsuspecting visitor on the hill visits. Which meant, in time Olympic was banished to the quieter life at our Glenlivet Farm, where visitors to the herd are less frequent and so life with Olympic and hand-feeding became manageable.

Strangely enough although Olympic is a very bold reindeer and eagerly comes up to us, amongst the reindeer he seems to be quite low down in the pecking order, almost to the point that he is a little bullied! Although he is a big strong reindeer he is just a big softy and another reindeer only has to so much look at him and he’s off. So Olympic often seeks out human companionship and whenever I am bringing the reindeer down off the hill for the daily feed Olympic is often right there beside me. So we have developed a close relationship and as time has gone on Olympic has grown on me and become my new special reindeer.

Last autumn we trained Olympic to harness and he joined the teams at Christmas time. Handling reindeer, gaining their confidence and harnessing them to pull a sleigh is a real joy for me. I love the close contact with the Christmas reindeer, feeling so responsible for them when away from home and proud of them as they delight the crowds who come to see them. Olympic was a delight to train and looks fantastic in full harness. He is as much at ease pulling the sleigh alongside another reindeer as pottering along at the back of the sleigh with the 6 month old calves. And I think Fiona, who organises Christmas now and decides which reindeer goes where made sure I had Olympic in my team! Thanks Fi!

Tilly

9th December 201613th March 2024

What reindeer would you…?

Over the summer during a rather (tipsy) evening, us herders got on to the topic of which reindeer would make good plumbers, friends, travel companions etc… It turned out to be illuminating and hilarious, so here are four of us giving our thoughts – hopefully it’ll be an entertaining insight into our beloved reindeer characters!

…go on a round the world trip with?

Abby: Erm…

Hen: It would have to be a northern hemisphere trip because they’d get too hot otherwise.

Abby: I would take a Swede because they’d know the country so you’d get to see local sights.

Hen: Maybe Bovril, but he might get lost. He gets lost on the free-range now sometimes…

Abby: Maybe Hook. He’s quite sweet but I think he feels quite worldly. I like Hook.

Hen: I like Hook. I think maybe Strudel, he loves to see new places!

Abby: You might have a fun holiday with Magnus but he’s a bit lazy.

Hen: It’d be more like a beach holiday with Magnus.

Andi: I think I’d take Gloriana, because she’d friendly, and attractive, and looks a bit different, so you’d meet lots of new people and have interesting conversations.

Gloriana 0215.jpg — The very beautiful Gloriana

…be trapped on a desert island with?

Abby: Puddock! No, Strudel. Puddock would be good fun. Wapiti would tell you a lot of tales.

Hen: Somebody fat who I could eat…

Andi: I wonder about somebody ingenious… Houdini, escape artist 🙂

Sarah: Somebody older and sensible who would be entertaining but not annoying… maybe Bumble.

Hen: But you’d have to eat your dinner before her as she’s so greedy…

Sarah: Oh yeah…

…get to be your interior designer?

Hen: Gandi!

Abby: Yea, definitely Gandi!

Hen: If any reindeer is going to know about wallpaper, it’s Gandi.

Andi: Yep, Gandi. Fashion, it’d be Bajaan because he’s very concerned about his appearance.

Hen: Yes he is!

Andi: When Emily took him out on Christmas tour, he got some mud on him and really didn’t like it so Emily had to brush him, which he really enjoyed!

gandi-0815 — Gandi, interior designer extraordinaire!

…go camping with?

Hen: I reckon it would have to be a female reindeer. The males are too lazy, they’d expect the tent to be put up, and their dinner made.

Abby: Wapiti. She just likes to wander. I think she’d be quite quiet, maybe too sombre. Merida! She’d be good banter, and useful.

Andi: Lilac, because she’d know all of the best spots to go to.

Sarah: Anster. He’s chilled out and not as lazy as the other males so he’d be useful. He’d also be the sort to enjoy a good ale with.

lilac-0914 — Lilac would point you in the right direction for a good camping spot

…least like to get in a fight with?

Hen: Lulu.

Abby: Yep Lulu. Even if you didn’t want to fight, she’d be like, ‘fight.’

Sarah: Parmesan. I just don’t think she’d give up.

Abby: She’d use words.

Andi: Bovril, because he’s just massive.

lulu-0912

parmesan-0915 — Lulu (top) vs Parmesan (bottom): Lulu has the inner rage but Parmesan is definitely no pushover

…like to be your heart surgeon?

Hen: I think the lack of opposable thumbs would worry me.

Andi: Dragonfly, because he’s a thinker. He’s very clever, he thinks things through.

Abby: I think Dragonfly for me might be liable to have a hissy fit halfway through; maybe Topi.

Hen: He’s a bit of a joker at times though…

Abby: I’m really not sure on this one. I think Ryvita and Cheese could be the heart surgeon team, because they’re so in sync with each other. Cheese would be the anaesthetist.

Sarah: I think Spider.

Abby: I’d forgotten about Spider!

Sarah: I think he’d be focused with a flourish.

spider-0714 — Spider, apparently favourite to be heart surgeon. I would prefer someone (something!) with opposable thumbs, personally

…trust with a dark secret?

Abby: Shinty because he shies away from other people so he’d be too scared to tell anyone.

Hen: I was going to say an old reliable girl like Cailin but I suspect she’d gossip actually.

Sarah: Maybe Fern, I’m not sure she’d join in with the gossiping.

Abby: I think she’d gossip.

Andi: I’d say maybe Duke, he’s like a loyal hound, eager to please.

shinty-0915 — Shinty being as shy and furtive as ever

…elect as prime minister?

Hen: Ooh.

Abby: Who’s got a good ministerial name… need someone a bit wise.

Hen: Need someone with a bit more sense than our current government.

Andi: Fly. Sensible. A good leader.

Hen: I’d agree, a good leader.

Abby: I’d say maybe Lilac. She’s been around long enough, she’s stern, and she’d get stuff done.

Hen: But does she speak to the people?

Abby: I don’t know. Probably not…

…would be you in a film?

Andi: This could be interesting..

Hen: Ladybird.

Andi: Because she’s small.

Hen: She’s quiet, she doesn’t like to make a fuss about things, she just gets on.

Andi: Okapi.

Abby and Hen: Ooh!

Andi: I love how people are judging here! Friendly, quite sensible. It’s funny how you view yourself! Independent, greedy, a little suspicious at times!

Sarah: Spy? She’s a pretty independent reindeer, knows her own mind, no nonsense, can be stubborn but also fairly willing to do things.

Abby: I think I would be Cheese. She’s a bit frantic at times. And she’s greedy. And she’s needy, she’s with her mum a lot. I don’t like to be alone! Who would Beyonce be?

Andi: Hopper? She’s a bit bolshy and a wee bit of attitude but she’s a really nice character.

…go pubbing with?

Abby: You need like an old man reindeer, like Elvis.

Sarah: Elvis!

Andi: Elvis, yea. Or Paintpot.

Abby: Ooh yea! He’s a bit of a grouchy old man, he’d be like, ‘why’s my favourite beer no longer on tap?’

Hen: Topi. Old lad, good lad, he’d have all the gossip. Or Magnus.

…go clubbing with?

Hen: I don’t know, you’d have to pay me a lot of money to get into a club.

Abby: Fergus! I feel like he’d have a funny, mischievous night. You’d have a disaster of a night but it’d be amazing.

Sarah: Maybe Minute. He’d have the moves but he’d be pretty loyal!

Andi: I’d maybe take Chelsea because I reckon she knows the streets.

Abby: I reckon Chelsea might take me to a strip club…

Hen: She’d get you arrested.

Andi: It’d be a good night!

p1150404 — Fergus being his usual rowdy self and waking up the inhabitants of reindeer house!

Sarah

18th November 201613th March 2024

Memorable reindeer: Amber

Amber was one of the very first reindeer I remember meeting when I arrived back in 2007. At that time she was in the hill enclosure with her 6-month-old son, Go. Both were very tame and friendly, and with her distinctive curved antlers, I found her easy to recognise amongst the sea of reindeer I was frantically trying to tell apart. Amber was also incredibly pretty, with a delicate, dished face and a gentle expression.

Born in 1999, Amber was the final calf from her mum Trout. Trout and her compatriot, Tuna, lived to the grand old age of 18, which as far as I know is the record for any reindeer in our herd (Editor’s note: Lilac now holds this record, surviving to age 19 in 2018). No prizes for guessing the naming theme for their year of birth (1984)! Unlike Trout, who has 11 calves to her name on the family tree, Amber never proved to be such a successful breeding female, with her only offspring being Esme, Oasis, Go and Sambar, or at least those are the only ones that survived long enough to be named (we usually lose a calf or two each year in the summer months when they are very young and vulnerable). Esme managed a better job of breeding than her mum, with 7 calves to her name.

Amber above Plantation Hill08.JPG — Amber looking out over the hills towards Meall a Bhuachaille

Amber was one of those lovely, gentle reindeer, but a fairly dominant character in the herd – a matriarch, if you will. She was a great reindeer to have around in the winter months when the herd all free-range completely as she so was easy to catch, and therefore an ideal candidate to be put on a halter and used as the ‘lead’ reindeer when needing to move the herd from place to place. I remember Fiona once leading her all the way from Eagle Rock back to near the Ciste carpark (where we were going to take the tour to that day) with her belt looped loosely around Amber’s neck, in place of a halter which we had managed to forget to take with us.

The continuation of Trout’s branch of the family tree now rests squarely upon the shoulders of Amber’s last calf Sambar, who is the sole remaining female in Trout’s descendants, other than Esme’s daughter Okapi. Unfortunately we don’t want to risk breeding from Okapi as she has had a prolapsed uterus a couple of times, so we think it’s better to not risk the chance of this happening again. We want it to stay firmly where it belongs! So Sambar has a lot of expectation on her, and is a lovely reindeer to boot, although a wee bit shyer than Amber was.

Esme and Okapi 0909.jpg — Esme in 2009, with yearling Okapi

Amber and Sambar 0908.JPG — Amber with Sambar on the left, in 2008

Amber herself passed away at some point in 2013, although we never knew exactly when as she just didn’t return from the summer grazing range in the autumn. She was over 14 by this point, so a very respectable age for any reindeer, and we are glad she finished her days out on the hills roaming freely.

Hen

28th October 201613th March 2024

The Kincraig Fayre

Recently we attended the Kincraig Fayre. We threw a few reindeer in the trailer and drove down the road. Kincraig is only 15 miles from the Centre so we headed out for the afternoon. Kincraig is a small highland village in the Strathspey, and every year we attend the Kincraig fayre; it is a great way to meet some of the local people.

imag0613

Preparation for a reindeer event needs to happen first thing in the morning. We need to bring the reindeer down from the hill so we head up first thing to hand pick some friendly reindeer. We decided on four reindeer to bring down from the enclosure. All of our reindeer are trained to walk on a halter. So we shepherd Strudel, Jonas, Cambozola and Aonach into a small pen, where we put a halter on each. We can now walk them along out of the enclosure and down the path to the road. It is quite funny walking a reindeer, imagine you are out walking your dog, now imagine your dog is three feet tall, with giant antlers and wants to eat all the leaves off the trees! Once we are at the road we can load the reindeer into our special transport truck. Then the short drive down to the centre to unload the reindeer into the paddocks where they will spend the time socialising with the tourists and the paddock reindeer until it is time for the fayre.

So as it happens we decide to load the paddock reindeer into the truck and take them to the fayre for a change of scenery. The paddock reindeer on this day were Fergus, Scrabble, Sooty and Matto. With the reindeer loaded, we gathered some food for them, along with buckets for water. We loaded several hurdles which we will use to build a temporary fence to enclose the reindeer. Down the road we drive, past Loch Morlich and on towards Aviemore before joining the B Road south. We shortly arrive in Kincraig and are greeted with waves and children shouting excitedly “Look, the reindeer are here!”

We spent a lovely afternoon in the sun, speaking with local people about our reindeer. The four reindeer are enclosed on a patch of grass next to the Community Hall. The reindeer curiously wondered around the enclosure munching grass and occasionally allowing people to pat them and feel their warm coats. The reindeer ate plenty of mix and had water to drink, while we made sure to sample the cake and the candy floss. The event passed by without drama. We did keep a pretty close eye on Fergus though as we half expected him to try and jump over the fence. But even Fergus behaved and event came to a close around 4.30pm.

Dave

14th October 201613th March 2024

The Rut

3-bulls — Balmoral (left), Ost (centre) and Bandy (hiding on the right)

It’s an exciting time of year here at the Reindeer Centre as we are now well into the rut. Our main breeding bulls are looking fantastic with their bony antlers, thick necks and chubby bellies. The girls are also looking brilliant after a summer out on the free-range getting lots of tasty morsels and running around on the hills.

ost — Youngest bull Ost looking gorgeous

We’ve now got a few bulls in our enclosure with their selected cows and are hoping that they do their one and only job well and we will have lots of babies next year. As most of you know, our herd numbers around 150 and we like to keep it that way. We use the enclosure during the rut to manage our bulls and cows to make sure we get enough calves, but not too many. The single cows we are not breeding from, such as Lilac, Tuppence, Fonn and co., are put out onto the free-range and politely told to go and fend for themselves. Females with calves are kept separate from the bulls, but still in the enclosure. As well as the rut, we are currently halter training the calves so we need them on the hill, but we give most of the mums a year off between calves.

Bandy strutting his stuff with his girls

There are roughly 4 large parts in total to the enclosure. The cows and calves have one, and the other three each contain one main bull, his cows and sometimes a couple of castrates and young bulls. The three main bulls in the enclosure this year are Balmoral, Bandy and Ost. We have a couple of castrates and young bulls in with the main bull to keep him fit and on his toes. Whilst the castrates and young bulls will never challenge the main bull for dominance, he will chase them away from his ladies if he feels they are getting a little too close for comfort. It keeps our younger boys in check and means our bulls work off that belly they have been building over the summer.

We also have a bull, Bovril, out on the Cromdales with some younger girls. He’s a very lovely boy and his antlers have been cut off (like getting a hair cut when the antlers have hardened!) so he is not too much of a worry if you come across him. Recently Tilly had a very long walk when Bovril’s 8 cows turned up on the road between Bridge of Brown and Tomintoul! I think Bovril was too fat to follow the girls so hopefully they have been reunited up on the hills and he is keeping them in check now.

balmoral-peeing — Balmoral peeing on his legs to make himself extra-attractive to the cows… men out there, please note that this doesn’t work for women!

Hopefully the boys will perform and next year we will have lots of cute little babies again!

Imogen

7th October 201613th March 2024

Fergus

Well, he stole the hearts of many a visitor last year and we are often asked for updates on the boy, so I thought I’d do a quick blog about the naughty man. I am, of course, talking about the darling little Fergus!

fergie-hill — Fergus looking angelic on the hill

In June 2015, Foil gave birth to a baby boy. She was a relatively old mother at 13 and unfortunately became ill only a few days after having her calf. We did our best to look after her, but sadly she passed away. The average life span of a reindeer is around 12-14 years, and the vet thinks that Foil had a heart problem, probably linked to old age. This left us with a baby reindeer to hand rear and the prospect of it both excited and dismayed us. Looking after a little reindeer is great, but when they need constant feeding and they decide to poo in your living room, sometimes it can be a little trying. I’m sure you parents out there are scoffing at our patheticness but none of us herders here at the centre have babies, and after this experience I’m sure it will be a while before any of us are having our own!

fergus-4 — Fergus sleeping in a feed bowl, inside Reindeer House.

So, from 10 days old, Fergus lived at the Centre with a few of the herders. Luckily for them he spent most of his time in the paddocks, but herder Mel took a real shine to him and he was often found napping in her room on her rare days off. Fergus needed feeding 5 times a day, and he soon got to know the times to expect a bottle. He would often be found at the end of the paddocks closest to the house, grunting his little heart out for 5 minutes before his goat milk and growth powder formula arrived. It was always fun for our visitors to see him getting his bottle.

Fergus grew up with dogs around him so is not too worried by the resident reindeer house dogs – Tiree, Murdo and Sookie – who used to cuddle up with him. Murdo always loved to lick Fergus, making it look like Murdo had adopted the little reindeer! Fergus loved to sleep in the dog beds too.

fergus-3 — Fergus and Tiree guarding the door

fergus-10 — Murdo and Fergus on a ride up to the hill

fergus-6 — Trying some different beds out for size

Fergus was quite the star last year, ending up in the Press and Journal, our local newspaper. He was even on the front page!

fergus-13 — Fergus in the news and up on the hill

In the autumn, Fergus spent more time up in our hill enclosure, eventually living up there full time and just getting a few bottles a day whilst we were doing visits and feeding the other reindeer. Our other calves came back off the free-range and we started to train them to wear a headcollar. Fergus was already adept at this as we had been leading him on and off the hill earlier in the year, and he was a good role model for some of the other calves who were a little shyer around us.

Fergus 12.jpg — Little Fergus ‘helping out’ on a trek in 2015

Fergus then went off on Christmas tour and of course, he went in Mel’s team. He is pretty naughty and managed to steal mince pies on one of his events, and was trying to nab some Celebrations chocolate on his posh Windsor event as well!

Mel and Fergus.JPG — Fergus having a cuddle with ‘mum’ Mel

Then the day came when Mel had to say bye to Fergus, at least for a little while. He had tried bonding with the females way back in autumn, but didn’t really have any success, so had to go onto the Cromdale hills with our other boys to free-range for winter. Fergus had been living in the hill enclosure for a while before we took him and the last remaining boys from the enclosure over to the farm to be led onto the free-range. Mel was upset to see her baby boy head off, but it was the best thing for him.

Soon enough the winter was over and Fergus came off the free-range with the other boys, not a care in the world and ready to get fat over summer. He’s grown a lot since he was a calf, so has spent most of the year over at the farm as he has a tendency to jump on unsuspecting children and give them a fright.

dscn0896 — Fergus looking great at 1.5 years old

He has been to the Centre for a couple of flying visits, staying in the paddocks, and delighting our visitors. In April, Mel ran the Paris marathon and as a surprise Fergus was brought over here as a well done for her. We made him a little paper collar, congratulating Mel on her run and I’m sure she enjoyed having him round again! He’s been in the house a couple of times over the summer, but he is now far too big for the dog beds he used to sleep in. It’s also not quite so cute anymore when he does his business in the house!

Now Fergus is a cheeky reindeer as you know. His level of foolishness was put up a notch a few weeks ago while we were out painting. Dave was out in the paddocks painting the posts a new and shiny coat of red. Well, you guessed it; he turned his back for only a few moments and Fergus is rubbing his big nose up and down a freshly painted post. And sure enough he turns his face, proudly exhibiting a bright red nose. Though apparently, even with a red nose, Fergus cannot fly. Thanks for the entertainment Ferg!

He’s a hilarious little reindeer who will no doubt make us laugh for many a year to come. Hopefully he’ll get to come up on the hill in a few years, once he’s learnt some manners!

Imogen

30th September 201613th March 2024

Luciferous Logolepsy

Exploring the meanings of unusual words and the Reindeer hoose Office wall…

To explain this rather dubious title, in our humble office here at Reindeer House there is a list of rather obscure words stuck to our wall: things like Jargogles, Apricity and Twattle. the latter meaning to gossip or talk idly – a lot of that goes on in our office to be sure!

Quite a few of these words we feel are quite apt for a few of our fluffy friends up on the hill so I’m going to introduce you to a few choice selections!

Snoutfair – A good looking person.

I feel this would obviously be quite apt for all the reindeer as they are such gorgeous beasts but Cheese obviously thinks very highly of themselves here!

Cockalorum – A little man with a high opinion of himself.

If there was ever a reindeer that fit this description it would be Mo, Mo is a cheeky little fella and at four years old he’s definitely one of the smallest males in the herd and he more than makes up for it in attitude!

Lethophobia – The fear of oblivion

So this is a tad dramatic but definitely applies to one of my favourite reindeer Shinty. Shinty is originally Swedish and was imported back in 2011. He’s a super sweetie (I think) but painfully shy and often looks apologetic for just turning up in the morning. If any reindeer were to fear oblivion it would be him!

Shinty 0913.JPG — Shinty looking a little wide eyed and worried, as usual

Hugger mugger – To act in a secretive manner

To be honest this applies very well to the female reindeer during the winter months – at this time of year we have to find the reindeer every day and we do all of our visits out on the open hillside. The amount of times we’ve walked out for miles to then turn around and have an entire herd of reindeer smugly behind you is definite hugger muggery if you ask me!

The girls in winter, sneaking off to hide for the night

Jollux – Slang for being a wee bit on the chubby side.

Without a doubt the Jollux of the herd is Magnus, the lovely magnus loves nothing more than chowing down – unfortunately it’s rather hard to put a reindeer on a diet as the hillsides are covered in lovely grazing. This also brings me onto another great word – Callipygian: to have beautifully shaped buttocks. Magnus most definitely gives Beyonce a run for her money!

magnus-0912 — Magnus looking majestic and pretty tubby!

The final word, one used almost daily here at Reindeer House is Groaking – To silently watch someone eating, hoping to be invited to join them. Every time lunch hour hits there’s some person with a fantastic looking lunch….

Abby

9th September 201613th March 2024

It’s a strip-tease!

Autumn is definitely here now, even if we have tried to ignore the fact the leaves are turning and days getting shorter… however it’s not all bad cos it’s the time of year that reindeer are looking at their absolute best. The past 5 months have been full on for the bulls growing these enormous antlers. Bovril, Balmoral, Bandy (not all bulls begin with ‘B’), Ost, Houdini, Pera and Kota (there we go) are a few of our main breeding bulls this year and they have all got a fantastic pair of antlers to complement their voluptuous curves (fatties!).

So we get to the end of August and wait with baited breath to who will be first to strip their velvet. Ost was number one. He is a 3 year old bull, just a youngster, so this will be his first year of being the main man. The others took a few days but then we were well underway with velvet hanging off left, right and centre. Balmoral stripped his velvet in the paddocks so with visitors going around we had to pre warn them of his gory state as it can look quite bloody, even though there is no feeling in the antlers at this point. He is now back on the hill with the others. It was fairly amusing walking this huge, quite terrifying looking bull out of our livestock truck, across the Sugarbowl trail to our mountain enclosure and he walked like a true gent. Makes us so proud of them!

The first to strip velvet are the main breeding bulls, then young bulls and females are next in line. The gelded males don’t always strip their velvet clean and end up with velvety antlers over the Christmas period which is fine and means they don’t look so terrifying with big bony antlers, even though we all know they are far from terrifying.

Bovril looking amazing with his antlers fully stripped

Antler is an amazing thing and there hasn’t been much study on it. For so much bone to grow over such a short period of time, it is incredible! Another cool antler fact is if a reindeer damages or breaks an antler one year, the antler that grows the next year (keeping in mind it’s a whole new antler) will remember the break/damage and it will have a scar in that same spot. At that point it will always be slightly weaker… Hmm, that’s pretty weird you have to admit.

Fiona