Seasonal - The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

3rd November 20177th June 2024

Adopters’ Open Day at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre

Back in 2012, when we got to the 60^th year of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd, we thought we ought to mark the occasion in some way. Therefore, in the October of that year, we ran a special weekend aimed at all our amazing reindeer adopters, who show us so much support from year to year, and without whom we couldn’t continue in the way we do today. As the weekend finally rolled around, the sun shone, the adopters flocked our way and everything ran like a dream. And somehow, somehow, the stress of organising such a big event (bang in the middle of the run up to our hectic Christmas season) faded into the past… So in March this year, when Tilly announced that as we were 65 years old now we should do a similar event, I blithely said “Ok Tilly! Whatever you say, Tilly.” More fool me.

Open Day 2017 AP25

About a week later, I realised that I was going to have to be in charge of the organisation. The Sunday at the farm could mainly be left to Tilly, but the Saturday here at Reindeer House was going to be mostly my domain – whether I liked it or not – with Andi as my trusty sidekick. Heather organised the 2012 do, but isn’t working here anymore; Fiona would be far too busy organising the annual Christmas tour; and all the other staff have started here much more recently. Damn. Even just choosing the weekend proved problematical. It had to be October, but the ‘usual’ weekend clashed with the Aviemore Half-Marathon, and another clashed with the Craggy Island Triathlon, where half the staff decamp to each year. The weekend before, at the very beginning of the month? Tilly’s first grand-child would be due then… It would have to be the 21^st and 22^nd (ironically, the baby then resolutely refused to put in an appearance until 2.5 weeks after his due date, meaning Tilly’s son Alex had bigger fish to fry by the time we got to the Open Day. Granny Smith (haha) is delighted though).

Open Day 2017 AP30 — Bumble making a new friend!

The spring and summer passed in a hectic haze of the usual reindeer related activities and millions of visitors, and we managed to get the Save the Date cards out, and then the general info out with the June newsletters. Thankfully Heather had done a great job of organising everything the first time around and much of the stuff was still filed away on the computers here, just need updating a bit. As time passed I started to get more and more twitchy, and in the final couple of weeks was starting to sweat a little. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not always the calmest under pressure! I started making lists, and delegating left, right and centre, but gradually it all started to come together. It probably helped that I had a couple of days off in the week running up to the event, although I did insist on working on Fri 20^th to save everyone from a day of answering the phone the find a squawking Hen on the other end, worrying about whether such and such had been done yet! But everyone here was absolutely awesome, and I needn’t have worried at all as everything came together perfectly. In fact I was barely needed…

Yvonne Bannister5 — The back shed all ready for the big day

We opened at 8.30am on the Saturday, and started off the day with a Hill Trip at 9am, followed by another at 11am. All the reindeer who had visitors coming were in the nearest part of the enclosure (the ‘Bottom Corridor’), which made life easier without having to trail around all over the various parts of the enclosure to show everyone ‘their’ reindeer. Kota, the breeding bull on the hill, still in full rut mode, was just over a fence with his girls and ensured that everyone got to see just how impressive he was as he grunted at anything that moved, peed on his legs and charged about…and tried to climb the fence once or twice. Eeek. Thankfully he remained the right side of the fence all day long.

Belinda Beattie8 — Kota looking super handsome! Photo: Belinda Beattie

Down at the Reindeer Centre, sleigh training demonstrations were in full swing, and everyone could try their hand at lassoing, Sami-style (not on a real reindeer but rather on a skull mounted on a post!). We had set up a little marquee beside the shop to provide some cover in case of awful weather, so lots of people parked themselves in there with a tea or a coffee and caught up with old friends, or made new ones! Visitors could also walk to Utsi’s Hut, the wee cabin in the woods built from the crates the first reindeer arrived in back in 1952, and Fiona did a special hill run in the afternoon up Meall a Bhuachaille behind Reindeer House, with everyone guessing her time for a donation towards the Everest Marathon Fund. Overall, there was a lovely atmosphere and it was all very relaxed, with people pottering around and just enjoying being here. And the weather was relatively kind to us too! It was mild, not windy, and only a little bit of rain at times…

Yvonne Bannister4

In the afternoon we trialled an ‘Open Hill’ system where visitors collected their tickets and maps, and made their own way to the hill enclosure, to be met by a herder on the gate, and a couple of herders in with the reindeer who could show them who was who and answer any questions. This seemed very popular too, although the weather deteriorated a bit as the afternoon went on.

Barbara Butters5 — Fiona and Tilly doing a sleigh training demo. Photo: Barbara and Martin Butters

Belinda Beattie3 — Fiona setting off on her hill run! Photo: Belinda Beattie

Martin and Barbara Butters2 — Reindeer harnessed up and ready!

And then on to Tilly’s talks at Glenmore Lodge! She ran one at 5pm and another at 6pm, and both went very well apart from some technical issues with the powerpoint, meaning some of the photos didn’t show up. This probably made the 6pm talk a little smoother, as at least she was prepared for the issues! Tilly also played a wonderful 20 minute film made in the 50s for the BBC about Mikel Utsi, the man who started it all, bringing reindeer back to their rightful home in Scotland after a 2000 year absence – thankfully the technology gods were with us for this one and it played fine!

Belinda Beattie4 — Tilly’s talk at Glenmore Lodge. Photo: Belinda Beattie

So all in all it was a wonderful day, but most thanks must go to our wonderful reindeer adopters, who give us so much support from year to year. We all went home exhausted on Saturday evening, but the fun didn’t stop there as most folks met up again the following day over at our farm, along with a few new faces too who hadn’t made it to the Saturday. But the blog does stop here, as Sunday’s write up can wait for another week!

Although first here’s some more photos…enjoy!

Hen

Matt O'Gorman — Enjoying a walk to Utsi’s Hut. Photo: Matt and Toni O’Gorman

Martin and Barbara Butters

Paintpot (and LX) meets one of his adopters! Photo: Martin and Barbara Butters

Carola de Raaf3 — Strudel and North. Photo: Carola de Raaf

Candice Bell3 — Kara meets her adopter Candice! Photo: Candice Bell

Candice Bell2 — Santa’s little helpers! Photo: Candice Bell

Belinda Beattie2 — Making friends on the hill. Photo: Belinda Beattie

Belinda Beattie7 — Sooty and his adopter. Photo: Belinda Beattie

First glimpse of Utsi Hut (Photo by Karen Sinclair)

Barbara Butters9 — Utsi’s Hut. Photo: Martin and Barbara Butters

Karen Sinclair2 — Welcome to the hut! (Photo by Karen Sinclair)

Barbara Butters4 — Sookie tried to go home with someone! Photo: Martin and Barbara Butters

Belinda Beattie9 — All too much for some reindeer by the end of the day! Photo: Belinda Beattie

27th October 20177th June 2024

Boomerang reindeer

After all summer wandering out on the free range, the females come back to the enclosure and we check them and separate who we need for the rut and who can go back out. This year, three of the girls going back out were Sambar, Okapi, and Cailin. They have been known to return occasionally, and this is the story of one time where the toublesome trio turned up almost daily and would be outside the enclosure and need to be pushed out..

Take 1: 30^th September 12:30pm ish

Morna and I had just finished the hill trip and were checking the reindeer in the other enclosures, where there were bulls and cows.

“Silver mount – fine, top corridor – fine, bottom corridor – three extra?”

Okapi, Sambar, and Cailin had waited outside the gate used their big brown eyes and fluttered their eyelashes to trick an unsuspecting visitor to let them in, much to Bandy’s delight. We separated them and pushed them back out on the hill.

Take 2: 3^rd October 08:20am

Hen, Andi, and myself checked the roads in the morning as we always do, and found Okapi and Cailin standing at the side of the road staring down in to the enclosure like a golden eagle on a levrit, scheming. Sambar was found the day before alone outside the enclosure and so we took her in until we could find her some company out on the free range. Maybe they were scheming, taking turns going in to the enclosure a day at a time! So we lead the two girls into the enclosure, reunited them with Sambar, and once again pushed them out.

Take 3: 4^th October 16:3pm

RTC (reindeer traffic control) were called out as the troublesome trio were causing a blockage on the Cairngorm road. Morna and I headed out to move them, and after a small discussion of the question we seem to be asking a lot recently “take them up or down?”, we moved them up on to windy-ridge. There was a glimmer of hope as they walked over the summit, that they were finally heading into the hills.

Take 4: 5^th October 08:10am

The three girls are once again found below Cairngorm road and I volunteered to take them out to ‘the flats’ (that is the plateau area below the northern corries) and I was determined to take them out where they wouldn’t come back. I had a bucket of feed, wellies and flat cap, but unfortunately no gloves, which I soon regretted as my hands felt as if they were being pierced by shards of dry ice. We walked through a glen, over a river, dodged the bogs (which are always deeper than your wellies). Eventually I stumbled onto a deer track that was poached with Roe deer, Red deer, and now Reindeer tracks. We eventually stopped at the base of Lurcher’s crag, I scanned my surroundings to see if there was a road, footpaths or anything else nearby where the reindeer could be a nuisance. But we were enclosed by the over-towering hills. I gave them some feed and after a one-to-one with them about why they should head in to the hills, I headed back.

A good shot of Cailin, with her characteristic hair tuft between her antlers!

“I hope that’s the last I see of them for a while”, I thought to myself as I left…… but I doubt it!

Olly

13th October 20177th June 2024

Why the reindeer loves its mushrooms

For those of you who forage, or for those of you who are naturalists, or even for those of you who aren’t, you’ll know that now is the time for mushrooms. The reindeer know this too, and they have long clocked into the secret of where the best places are, and at this time of year they can be found down in the woods, where all the best mushrooms grow.

Reindeer can eat mushrooms that are poisonous to us, and will even seek them out. They have a trick to this that is shared by many other ruminants – having four stomachs and a specialised form of digestion.

Reindeer digestion works as follows:

The reindeer eats a lot of food very quickly and stores it in its first stomach.
The reindeer brings the eaten food back up to its mouth and chews it (chewing the cud) then swallows it into stomach number 2. Stomach number 2 contains many microorganisms which can break down the plant material in a way in which us mammals can’t.
The reindeer brings the food back up into the mouth and chews it a third time. Now the food is mixed with microorganisms and the reindeer chews them all up too. Yummy. The food is then swallowed into stomach 3.
Stomach number 3 absorbs all the water from the food and passes it onto stomach number 4, which is similar to our stomach and contains lots of acid to break the food down further.
Food passes into the intestines and all the goodness from the food and the chewed microorganisms is absorbed.

The complicated stomach of a reindeer, with four stomachs. The rumen, the largest of the four, contains the microorganisms which break down food for the reindeer. Diagram from Wikipedia.

This incredible process means that the microorganisms living in the stomach deal with all the mushroom poisons, and the reindeer gets off scot free. It also means that reindeer can live off of lichen over the winter, when no other food is available, giving them a big advantage over other animals.

A carpet of lichen provides a tasty snack for a mother and calf, all thanks to fantastic digestion abilities.

So with the poisons all gone, the reindeer is free to enjoy the mushroom (and any of its other properties!). One of their favourites is the Fly Agaric, the traditional ‘Christmas mushroom’, with its red cap and white spots, and hallucinogenic chemicals. This we believe is sometimes the culprit for any missing reindeer that we find later on in the day, sleeping soundly beside a pile of chewed stems!

A beautiful arrangement of Fly Agarics. Photo from Wikipedia.

Morna

22nd September 20177th June 2024

A Recovery Mission

Whilst many of our visitors come and meet some of our reindeer, mostly the males, in our hill enclosure, it’s great to remember that our herd all get to free-range for part of the year. The males, who are a little lazy at times and can’t be relied on to actually go and ‘be’ reindeer, rather than hanging out on the car parks, do most of their free-ranging on mountains over on the Glenlivet Estate (which are a little more isolated) over the winter months – December-May. The females, however, are out and about for most of the year on the Cairngorms. Their range is vast, with our leased land covering thousands of acres on the high ground.

When they reach the boundary though, there is no fence, nothing to stop them, so on occasion a small group of reindeer will wander a little further than they should. Thankfully most of our neighbours are pretty understanding, and we do our best to retrieve any “wanderers” as soon as possible. So it was that Fiona and I set off on a showery morning across to Glen Feshie, where we’d received a report of some of our girls hanging out on one of the hills. Glen Feshie is perhaps eight miles away from the hill enclosure, as the crow flies – a thirty minute drive by road.

The beautiful rolling hills at Glen Feshie

First up, we spied at the hills using a telescope from a good vantage point, and it was only a minute before Fiona spotted a reindeer, then two, then three. Fantastic! It can be like looking for a needle in a haystack at times, so we were off to a good start! We then drove to the car park and set off walking up the track through the woods, an easy trail to follow but all uphill. Fiona has been keeping pretty fit with lots of running recently, whereas I have not, so I was certainly feeling my inferior fitness! We had Tiree with us, Fiona’s dog, who we can use to push the reindeer in the right direction if necessary. She was bouncing around, full of energy and excited about being somewhere new!

It took us about 45 minutes to get clear of the trees, but once we were, we quickly spotted the naughty reindeer just a few hundred metres ahead. They were loving the good grazing and plentiful lichen – no wonder they’d decided it was a good spot to hang out. Time for a plan of action! We left Tiree waiting off to one side, blending perfectly into the hillside, and I skirted round towards the females, shaking a small bag of feed and calling. Three heads shot up in the air, suspicious, but it wasn’t long before one decided I was friend not foe and started making her way over, swiftly followed by the others. Peering at each, we identified them as Fern, Cailin and Clootie. Fiona was close behind me with three headcollars tucked into her jacket, and it was perhaps the easiest time either of us had ever had catching females: offer bag of food, reindeer nose goes in, arm round neck, headcollar on. Within 2 minutes we had our three lassies on headcollars, looking slightly betrayed by their greed! Of course when we got back we told a slightly different tale to the other herders, about how they were only captured due to our extreme skill and herding prowess (which wasn’t believed for a second…).

Fern and Clootie couldn’t quite believe what their greed had done to them

Fiona delighted that we’d been prepared and brought food

Before starting down, we sat and had a spot of lunch (the reindeer too), admiring the view, then Fiona went on ahead with Tiree back to the car park (reindeer and dogs not being a good mix as they resemble wolves, their natural predator) and I pottered along behind with the reindeer.

Fiona then ran back up to join me and help with the girls, who didn’t seem too fussed by the unexpected change to their day, and were enjoying all of the mushrooms alongside the track – especially Cailin!

Cailin tucking in to a path-side mushroom

With only one quick detour off the path to avoid a hillwalker with a dog, we soon reached the car park, and about two minutes later Tilly arrived with the cattle truck to transport the reindeer back to the right side of the mountains.

Thirty minutes later, we pulled up beside the road, led the girls back out and up to our hill enclosure for the night, where they enjoyed a good feed (hopefully reminding them that it’s a good area to stay near!), before going back out to free range the next day. Hopefully they’ll now stay in the area they are meant to be in!

Andi

25th August 20177th June 2024

A Pied Wagtail story

Up on the hill in our 1200 acre enclosure there is a shed. We use the shed to house sick reindeer, catch the wild ones, and store all our hill-working tools and materials.

For the last couple of months we have had a visitor in our shed on the hill. A little female Pied Wagtail decided that the shed made an excellent house to hold her nest, and it even came supplied with a renewing source of insulation – reindeer hair!

Tucked neatly out of the way, hidden behind some spare fencing wire, Mrs Pied Wagtail laid her second-of-the-year clutch of four teeny-tiny Pied Wagtail eggs. With the reindeer hair lining, and her body warmth for much of the day, the eggs were kept nice and toasty through the variable Scottish summer.

Mrs Pied Wagtail has used her initiative and used all the spare winter-coat reindeer hair to line her nest. Each reindeer hair is hollow, making it an excellent insulator.

On the morning of the 18^th of July, we walked into the shed to the shed to find four little chicks huddled up against the nest. A couple of days later we were greeted by the sound of cheeping, and were delighted to find 4 yellow open beaks hungrily competing for food. It is of course incredibly important not to disturb the mother on her nest, or the chicks whilst they are alone, so these photos were taken quickly whilst the mother was already away.

18 July — The newly hatched chicks, huddled up keeping warm whilst Mamma Wagtail is away.

Wagtail chicks (fleg 31) — Four little chicks on the 24th July, hungrily asking for food.

Wagtail chicks 30th July.jpeg — After 2 weeks in the nest, the chicks are noticably bigger and ready to fledge!

Pied Wagtails are a common British bird, often known by slightly unusual nicknames such as ‘Polly Washdish’, or ‘Dishwasher’. These names are thought to come from olden days when women would wash dishes in streams where Pied Wagtails were common. They are lovely, sprightly birds that appear very cheerful and eager with their wagging tails and chirping call.

A fully gown Pied Wagtail. Photo by Albert Bridge.

By the 31^st of July, the chicks had fledged, and are now off in the big bad world, where we wish them all the best. We are always happy to see birds and beasts using our shed for shelter, and hope to see our little female Pied Wagtail back next year!

Morna

18th August 20177th June 2024

Identifying reindeer: A summer guide

Every reindeer has their own name, based on a different theme every year. Last year the theme was ancient civilisations but we have also had more ridiculous themes such as pop stars (Elvis, Marley, Blondie) and cheeses (Feta, Mozzarella, Brie). However, with almost 160 reindeer in the herd, there is a lot of reindeer to identify and name! I work as a herder during the summer which is a bit easier for identifying the reindeer, so this blog will describe how I go about naming them.

In the summer the reindeer’s antlers are nearly fully grown and most have distinctive shapes which grow back the same every year. The big breeding bulls usually have huge antlers that stand out amongst the crowd, for example Bovril, who has large dark antlers with two big blades at the front (the blade is the part of the antler witch grows downwards over their face to protect it). The Christmas reindeer (those who have been castrated to control the breeding) usually grow smaller but more ‘messy’ antlers that go off in all directions. This year Nutkins, a very friendly five year old, has small antlers that have parts growing in around seven directions!

Bovril 0815.JPG — Bovril has huge dark antlers when covered in velvet. He is also one of the biggest and darkest reindeer in the herd.

Nutkins searching over my shoulder for some food.

Another main difference for the reindeer at this time is they have moulted their thick winter coats to reveal their much thinner and darker summer coats. There is a lot more variety in colours between these, some being very dark, such as Orkney, or much lighter like Origami. A few also have interesting facial markings such as Laptev who has a pink nose. These reindeer are all so distinctive that they can be identified from a distance.

Orkney 0814.JPG — Orkney can be easily identified by his dark coat and greedy personality!

Processed with VSCO with a8 preset — Origami

Origami saving some energy walking on the board walk. He has completely moulted his winter coat in this picture, which is almost pure white in places, unusual for a summer coat on a reindeer.

Laptev with his very distinct pink nose.

All the reindeer have different personalities. On hill trips it is usually the same group of four or five reindeer that come up for hand feeding and don’t leave until all the food is gone! This means that all us herders can easily identify the greediest reindeer in the herd (such as Orkney as mentioned before).

If the reindeer is normal coloured with ordinary antlers and a shy personality, identifying them can be harder. In this case we can get a bit closer to the reindeer and look at their left ear which will have a coloured ear tag. Every year has a different colour of tag and a different theme for naming (eg. 2013 was a yellow tag and the theme was cheeses). There is usually only three or four reindeer from each year so it is easier to narrow it down and work out the differences between them in each year.

If all else fails, we can cheat! Every ear tag has a different number and each herder has a herds list so we can easily look up who it is we are struggling to identify.

Most of the reindeer mentioned in this blog are currently up in our hill enclosure so if you’re planning a visit soon why not try and identify one for yourself!

Julia

11th August 20177th June 2024

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

Hello, my name is Olly; I’ve been working at the Reindeer Centre (on and off) for about 3 years now. I first came up volunteering for work experience when I was studying Countryside conservation and Wildlife management at Sparsholt College. I started once more this season in May and since being here there hasn’t been a dull moment.

I keep on being badgered to write a blog but I have never been sure what to say. I am also dyslexic and so unfortunately writing is not one of my favourite things to do, but… I do like to take pictures! So here are some photos of mine that I have taken since I have been back with my perspective on them. And as they say, “a picture paints a thousand words”..

Picture 1: May time is calving time, which means its time for 5am starts, in our search for the newborns out on the hill. I often like an early start (as long as I have a strong coffee) as you’re seizing the day. What a day it was, not a cloud in sight and just a soft cooling breeze with the hill alight with the morning sun. I was also excited to see Black Grouse lekking in the enclosure. We eventually found the new mother Gazelle and her wee one, who was a strong healthy male.

Black Loch looking out to Creag Chalamein

Picture 2: One thing I love about it here are all the lochs and rivers, as a few of us at the Reindeer Centre made a New Year’s resolution to jump in a fresh body of water once a month or week. Trying to do this down south was rather difficult and I had to go to the coast to achieve it. But now in Scotland there’s somewhere to swim around every corner. Since being back I have been in 5 different lochs and a couple of rivers. It may be cold at times but you’re surprisingly warm once you’re out, athough I’m usually on a run when I do jump in so the blood is pumping. But I highly recommend an occasional dip.

Nothing like a quick dip to warm (or cool) the cockles of your heart.

Picture 3 and 4: The long socks and trainers were on, my belly was full of stew and the calf was well rested…. It was time for the cows and calves to head out on the free range. We headed out late in the evening to lessen the chances of us bumping into dogs and as we came over the brow of the hill the hills were looking fierce, but the show must go on.

With Tilly leading one of the females (Fern) on a halter; myself, Fiona, Morna, and Ceris followed from the sides and the back in case the reindeer decide to go their own way. At one point they did, but we managed to get them on the right path in the end.

Pushing them out wasn’t so bad. All you had to do was keep the right distance – far enough not to scare them but close enough to keep them moving. Apart from almost falling off the edge of a scree at one point it was just a case of getting them far out in to the hills. As we let them run off, it was rewarding to see calves running up in to the hills alongside their mothers.

Now came the race against the light! We were lucky and just as it became pitch black we made it back to the van, although going through the trees past Utsi’s bridge was rather eerie. We eventually got back to Reindeer House and celebrated with a wee dram.

The clouds looming low over the hills as we set off.

The cows and calves silhouetted against the low cloud.

Picture 5: The woman in this photo herding the reindeer is called Sally. She often wears a shirt with a sunflower design on it which suits her personality to a T. She brings sunshine to Reindeer House as she is a true pleasure to work with, and has to be one of the jolliest people I have ever met.

Picture 6: Though our days are busy and the hills and forestry tracks are a hive of activity, once the clock reaches 5:30pm Glenmore turns into a ghost town. With the sun setting late in the evening, we go to the hills. It is treat to have this on your doorstep and is a grand way to end the day, by gazing into the distance of this colossal landscape. It really makes you think how small we all are.

The hills shining and bright as the sun goes down. We feel like the only ones alive.

Olly

28th July 20177th June 2024

Bulls Over The Years

The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd was established in 1952 so over the past 65 years there have been many main breeding bulls so here is a little sum up. I can only tell you about the ones I remember but there were many bulls before my time as well. I’ll try to inspire Tilly (or Alan) to write a blog on the ones before my time.

The first bull I remember when I was very young was Gustav and he was born in 1985, the same year as my brother. You could not get a more gentle reindeer, if he was a human he would be the perfect gentleman! I suspect nowadays we have lots of reindeer in the herd like Gustav but back in the day he was certainly one of a kind! You may find this morbid but a few years after Gustav died we found his skull so we hung it up in our shed on the hill so we feel like he watches over us when we bring the herd in for handling. He was the main breeding bull in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

The next one to memory was Crackle who came to us from Whipsnade zoo in 1991 along with two others, Snap and Pop (Who remembers Snap, Crackle and Pop from Kellogg’s Rice Krispies?). Being new blood we obviously wanted to breed from him. He was also a very good looking reindeer, grew lovely antlers and had a great temperament so all good things to go back into our herd. He featured on the front cover of Tilly’s first book ‘Velvet Antlers Velvet Noses’ and lived to a grand age of 16. He was also photographed by wildlife photographer Laurie Campbell and recently we have acquired some posters from Laurie which were printed many years ago when Crackle was in his prime which we are selling in our shop.

After Crackle was Utsi who was born in 1998. He was hand reared by Alan, my dad. Utsi’s mum Pepper died when he was very young so we bottle fed him milk and he was Alan’s shadow around the hill and farm. I had a love/hate relationship with Utsi… and not because we fought over Alan’s attention, he well and truly had that 😉 When I was in my mid-teens on the hill one day with mum, we fed the herd and I was walking back counting them. At that point Utis was rutting and decided I was a few steps too close to his females and he completely flattened me. There were no injuries, infact I managed to get myself in-between his antlers while on the ground and held him into me as mum came over flapping an empty food sack to shoo him away. He headed off leaving me in a wee pile on the ground, but un-injured! The trouble when reindeer are hand-reared is they see us as part of their herd and being totally comfortable in our company he wasn’t scared to give me a telling off for getting too close so it’s a fair one really. I’ve learnt from my mistakes and how to act around rutting bulls so there have been no incidents since. The same year Utsi was a breeding bull we also had Cluster who was the same age. He was very different, kept himself to himself but grew lovely big antlers. We also had Red who was another gentleman, good looking with a super nature!

Utsi behaving himself on the Cromdale hills

Cluster with his beautiful antlers in velvet

We then had a spell where we used bulls we brought in from Sweden in 2004. This was new blood in the herd which is very important but it meant there wasn’t necessarily one main breeding bull. Some of these bulls were Sarek, Sirkas, Jokkmokk, Ritsem, Västra, Ola, Moskki and Porjus.

Then there was Crann!!! If you haven’t heard of Crann I’d be very surprised. He has been the pin up boy of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd for quite some time now and although a very old man at 14 years he is still with us… though not looking as quite as good as he once was. None of the past or future bulls have matched the size of Crann’s antlers, he still holds the record and I suspect will for a long time to come. He was truly magnificent in his prime and his photograph has been in many national newspapers as well as our own advertising and images on various items of shop stock. He is certainly enjoying full retirement now at our hill farm over at Glenlivet, and quite rightly too!

One of the many photos of Crann, a truly majestic bull

So in the more recent years we have had more reindeer joining us from Sweden. In 2008 we brought over Pelle, Jaska, Bajaan and Magnus who were the main breeding bulls around 2009, 2010 and 2011. Then there was Gandi, Bovril, Jara, Lalle, Boxer, Kota, Houdini, Pera, Bandy and Nutti who joined us in 2011. The most recent Scottish bulls are Balmoral and Ost. Both from very strong family lines and they have lovely natures and grow beautiful antlers… everything you want in a reindeer!

Fiona

14th July 201729th March 2024

Differences and Similarities

One of our visitors recently decided to adopt a reindeer they’d met at the Centre, but called us up when they received their pack to let us know that we’d sent a photo of the wrong reindeer. The reindeer they’d met had been a pale brown, with a thick shaggy coat and small antlers, whereas the photo on their certificate was of a sleek black coloured reindeer with large bony antlers. Thankfully, we hadn’t got it wrong, but could totally understand their confusion, as the reindeer change in appearance a lot throughout the year.

Bovril in his shaggy old winter coat in June, and looking smart in September

First, there is the coat appearance. From May, the reindeer start moulting out their long winter coat, which, with 2000 hairs per square inch, takes about six weeks. They look incredibly scruffy at this time, but by around mid-July the whole herd look glorious in their short summer coat. This summer coat is a richer colour than the winter coat, so the white reindeer are gleaming white, and the darker reindeer are virtually black. The short coat exposes all of their angles, so they can look a bit gaunt, with angular heads and shoulders.

Olympic’s varied coat throughout the same year (2014) – in February, July and September

Summer in the Highlands is short-lived, however, so by September their long winter coat is growing through, softening their appearance and turning them into cuddly teddy-bear lookalikes. This coat is slightly lighter in colour, so the darkest reindeer are now a rich brown. Over the winter months, the sun gradually bleaches out the colour, so by April the whole herd are a similar washed-out shade, with only the pure white reindeer looking different. It is the worst time of year to become a reindeer herder, as the reindeer look almost identical, and I’ve had sympathy with Ruth, and previously Dave and Imogen, starting in April and trying desperately to work out who is who!

Young Beastie throughout the same year (2011) – in full winter coat in January, darker summer coat in July, and new winter coat in September

Young Strudel throughout the same year (2010) – in old winter coat in May, dark sleek summer coat in August and with new winter coat growing through in September

Whilst the colour of a reindeer varies depending on the time of year, a dark coloured reindeer will always be comparatively dark, and a light one will be light. There is one exception, in that some white calves are born a mousy brown or grey colour, with a white forehead. This white forehead suggests their future colour, and once they are a yearling they have changed into their adult silvery coat.

Diamond as a brown calf with a white forehead, turning silvery later that year, and even lighter as a yearling

Origami as a calf with a white forehead, and as a silvery white adult

The other major change in appearance is relating to the antlers. Every year, each reindeer grows a full new set of antlers before casting them again at the end of the season ready to grow the next (hopefully better) set. From January to March, the male reindeer are antler-less, with the females usually losing theirs a little later, between March and May. Antlers are very distinctive, with each individual tending to grow a similar shape or pattern each year once they pass the age of about three. This is really useful for us herders, helping us to recognise the reindeer from year to year. Not much help in the period between casting the old set and the new set getting to a sensible size though! New herders are cautioned to try to “look beyond the antlers” and instead learn more permanent characteristics, such as the shape of their face.

Caterpillar with very similar antlers over three consecutive years – 2014, 2015, 2016.

Puddock with his familiar crazy branching antlers over three consecutive years.

There is a slight spanner thrown in the works though, as adult reindeer don’t necessarily grow the same size of antler each year. Antler size is determined largely by condition, so if reindeer are short of energy, they will grow smaller, more basic antlers – it’s pointless to waste energy on an amazing set of antlers if you don’t save enough energy for your body to survive! The three main reasons for sub-standard antlers are illness, rearing a calf, and advancing years. If a reindeer becomes ill whilst growing their antlers, the growth will be checked, and sometimes the new bone is weakened to the point that it breaks off, leaving the reindeer with short, oddly shaped antlers. Antler growth also checks when a female is about to calve, and the extra effort of producing milk to feed the calf can mean the antlers are considerably smaller than usual. Finally, once a reindeer is in their old age, their antlers often become distinctly short and basic – they are focusing their efforts on being alive rather than growing antlers for dominance.

Lulu with impressive antlers in 2013, and a rather less impressive set the following year, due to rearing a calf.

Beautiful Sequin in her prime with a large set of antlers, and with a simpler set in her old age.

It’s always entertaining for new herders watching the change in reindeer throughout the year, and sometimes peering in disbelief that the handsome reindeer in a photo is the same beastie as the scruffy fellow they know on the hill (as a side note, most of the photos for the adoption certificates are taken in September when they reindeer are at their smartest, with a fresh winter coat and recently stripped full-grown antlers). So if you do receive an adopt certificate with a reindeer looking a little different from when you met them, it is of course possible that we’ve got it wrong (we’re only human!) but if we check for you and confirm that it is them, hopefully this blog will help you to believe us!

Andi

30th June 201729th March 2024

Yellow’s on the Broom

This is the title of a Scottish song about the Travellers (sometimes called Tinkers) who lived a nomadic life which often settled for a short while during the harder winter months. The lyrics show the Traveller anxious for Spring and a new start to traveling.

The guided walk out to the reindeer herd at this time of year is particularly colourful because the broom is in full flower with its multitude of bright yellow flowers. After the muted colours of winter, old heather and deciduous trees without leaves the flowering broom brings splashes of colour into the hills. I can understand why the yellow Broom would have lifted the hearts of many a traveller.

The Hill Trip group paused for a breather at Utsi’s Bridge, about to cross the Allt Mhor Burn. The yellow Broom flowers light up the valley at this time of year.

In fact the daily hill visit to the reindeer which takes us across the Allt Mhor Burn to the summer grazing of part of the herd is incredibly picturesque just now, perhaps making up for the reindeer themselves who can look quite scruffy at this time of year as they lose their winter coats to reveal their short dark summer coats underneath.

Picture of a really scruffy reindeer

From a distance Broom can look really quite similar to Gorse, another shrub which has lurid yellow flowers. Both plants tend to grow in the same kinds of places; heathlands, uncultivated land, roadsides etc. In a dense clump where both are found, it can be hard to tell where the Gorse ends and the Broom begins.

However once you get up close you immediately see the difference, Broom is a large, deciduous shrub, like Gorse, but without the spines. You would never push your way through a gorse bush in shorts, that’s for sure.

The soft stems of broom give no barrier to the hill wanderer.

In contrast, gorse is virtually impossible to pass through without a full coat of proection against those spines. Photo by Nigel Mykura.

For me, my personal preference is definitely Broom, with no sharp, jaggy spines and a slightly lighter coloured yellow flower, but it is a mystery to me why some areas are dominated by Gorse and others by Broom.

Perhaps a more learned person than me can come up with the answer..

Tilly