Roaming freely since 1952
Normality has resumed and over the last month we have welcomed our lovely visitors to our site in Glenmore and have also caught up with a few of our cows and calves. They’re all looking well and have had a good summer out on the free range!
Amy
At the end of May, the first group of cows and calves made their way out onto the free range for the summer as the younger group were growing stronger and more confident. A week into June the last group of cows and calves were walked out onto the free range to spend their summer there. Meanwhile lower down, the reindeer are starting to moult their winter coat, meaning they are looking rather scruffy. By the end of the month, we have most of our male reindeer in our hill enclosure and their appetites have definitely ramped up. It has also been great to catch up with all of our male yearlings since they have spent the last few months at our secondary site- identifying them all has been a challenge and us herders have been relying on their ear tag numbers to identify them at the moment.
Amy
As most readers know, we name reindeer on a theme each year. For example, in recent years we’ve had ‘Teas and Coffees’, ‘Rivers of the World’, and ‘Ice Creams and Lollies’ to name just a few. This old blog goes into the themes themselves a lot more.
The majority of the time the calves are given a name within the given theme more or less at random. There’s hundreds of examples of this but to give you one – in 2022 Caterpillar (‘Bugs and Beasties’) had a female calf that we called Popsicle (‘Ice Creams and Lollies’) for no reason other than it fitted the theme and we thought it a suitable name for a sweet female calf.
But sometimes we try to be a bit clever, linking names within the theme to their mother or other family member. This can help us remember who is related to who… or just confuse us completely!
Often, we use an alliteration, for example Brie (‘Cheeses’), had a calf who we named Beret (‘Hats’), who went on to have a calf called Brew (‘Teas and Coffees’). You’ll also notice a French link between Brie and Beret!
Gazelle (‘Horned and Antlered Animals’), now aged 17, is long retired from breeding. She has three surviving sons whose names all begin with an ‘A’ – Aztec (‘Ancient Civilisations’), Athens (‘European Places’), and Adzuki (‘Seeds, Peas, and Beans’).
Emmental (‘Cheeses’) has been a great breeding female over the years – all her offspring have names beginning with vowels just like her – for example Olmec (‘Ancient Civilisations’), Iskrem (‘Ice Creams and Lollies’), and Ob (‘Rivers of the World’).
Sadly, we lost old girl Ibex (‘Horned and Antlered Animals’) in the spring at a grand old age of nearly 17. She had a female calf in 2020 who we named Flax (‘Seeds, Peas, and Beans’) as both their names ended with the letter ‘x’.
Flax has gone on to have three calves so far, her first in 2023 we named Nile (‘Rivers of the World’), the second in 2024 we named Camomile (‘Teas and Coffees’) and the third was another male born this spring. All going well, he’ll get named in early September, so we’ll see if we select a name that rhymes with his older siblings!
Pagan (‘Ancient Civilisations’) was a notorious reindeer in our herd who sadly died very suddenly and unexpectedly in 2023. We were all incredibly fond of her despite her bossiness – she was a real character. We managed to name all of her offspring on a Halloween/witchy theme as best we could. Pumpkin (‘Seeds, Beans, and Peas’), Witch (‘Hats’), Zap (‘Ice Creams and Lollies’), and we named Pagan’s last calf who we hand-reared Winnie. Winnie’s name doesn’t fit the theme that year because she had to be named before the theme was even selected but we went for Winnie (or Winifred), after the witch.
Sometimes the link can be a little more intellectual, surprising I know! Suebi (‘Ancient Civilisations’) had twins in 2023. Her female twin was hand-reared from the age of just three days old (alongside Winnie) and therefore was given the name Alba long before the theme was even chosen. However, the male twin was named in the ‘River of the Worlds’ theme. The Suebi people were a large and powerful group in the Roman era. They originated on the river Elbe, in what is now north east Germany – so this was the perfect name for Suebi’s son. We think the names Alba and Elbe also go very well together.
And finally, sometimes the link is just a bit silly! Hobnob (‘Cakes, Biscuits, and Biscuits’) had a calf in 2020 when the theme was ‘Seeds, Peas, and Beans’. We named her female calf Mushy, after mushy peas. Why did we select the name Mushy for Hobnob’s calf you may ask? Simply because if you dunk a hobnob into a cup of tea, it goes mushy.
Ruth
The longer we work with the reindeer the more we see their individual personalities, this is one reason I love working with these incredible animals! They are all so unique, and learning all their quirks and characters means we can work with and handle the reindeer better. This wee blog shows a few of their character traits…
The one with the puppy dog eyes…
Bordeaux has a sweet-natured soul with big, beautiful eyes which she likes to use on weak-willed reindeer herders. At the end of each Hill Trip she likes to wander up to the herders and batter her eyelashes at them in the hope she gets to put her head in the white bag containing tasty treats! To be fair to Bordeaux this is most likely a learnt behaviour. A couple of years ago she had a bad summer and came in off the free range in poor condition. We spent a couple of months carrying a special bag of food on to the hill for her containing an extra extra-calorific food mix in order for her gained weight before the harsh winter months. She clearly got used to this special treatment and now can’t understand why she’s not allowed any extra!
The labrador…
Busby is a very lovely and very friendly lad! When he was a calf he was actually rather shy and took a little while for his cheeky nature and fairly outrageous levels of greediness to really shine! The photo below sums his character up well: Isla trying to get past him and Busby making sure that he’s 100% been seen so surely there’s some food in that white bag for him. Reindeer don’t like to be stroked and patted but if there’s a bag of food around, Busby will tolerate most things! He’s also a great poser so often appears on social media especially over the summer months when he’s often in our hill enclosure here on Cairngorm.
The ‘Danger Reindeer’…
Pumpkin is a feisty girl with bags of attitude! She’s dark in colour and very beautiful so people often want to take photos of her or with her. She’s not shy around people and loves hand feeding from our visitors. BUT if you catch her in a bad mood then you may know about it, she’s well known for waving her antlers at people and even snorting! This means herders on Hill Trips are constantly keeping a wee eye on her and often have to apologise for her bad behaviour – “please don’t take it personally, that’s just Pumpkin!”
The greediest of all…
Aztec! Arguable, but surely most herders would agree?! In 2022 he was officially crowned the title after herders voted on it – read that blog here. He is very friendly, the class clown, and even though Aztec will be 9 years old in the spring he shows no sign of slowing down. Multiple times, I’ve witnessed him jumping over fences from a standstill at the merest rustle of a bag on the other side – he’s very athletic! Aztec during hand-feeding sessions on Hill Trips adds a bit of drama to the day. He has no patience and inhales the food from one pair of hands in milliseconds before heading to the next pair of out-stretched hands, and then the next… Thankfully he grows relatively small antlers so he’s not wheeling around huge headgear. If you foolishly allow him to get into a white bag, then good luck to you! He ploughs his nose to the ground making it almost impossible for you to remove his head and can be rather embarrassing in front of 50 people on a Hill Trip. What a boy!!
Sweet as pie…
Diamond – she’s so lovely! She’s an old girl now at 13. She’s had a permanent limp since spring 2019 and since then she’s been retired from breeding as we don’t want her putting additional strain on her body. As she now doesn’t breed, she gets to spend most of her life out free ranging in the mountains. I’ve had several lovely encounters with Diamond on the free range where she always seems genuinely pleased to see you, and very gently and politely takes some food! The photo below is of Cameron and Diamond casually walking across the Cairngorm plateau. We bumped into her by herself, and she decided to follow us all the way to a lovely safe spot, closer to home. We got some funny looks as we strolled past hill walkers who were doing double takes at our four-legged friend! Hard to believe, but she is the granny of the ‘Danger Reindeer’ above – how is that possible when Diamond is this sweet?!
The snorer…
Perhaps snoring isn’t a personality trait, but in the warmer summer months Clouseau loves to lie in the exact same spot, snoring away. It’s just off the boardwalk, right by the gate so all our visitors get to experience the sweet snores as he dozes off and waits for the next meal to arrive! He’s actually a rather cheeky chap but boy does he know how to relax!
The last one…
Vienna is a really sweet lass. She’s friendly, greedy, sweet-natured, and a beautiful, unusual colour. However, annoyingly she is most often at the back of the herd trailing along with no haste whatsoever! For other reindeer if they’re being sluggish at the back it’s a sign we may need to check their temperature as they could be feeling a bit under the weather. But we have learnt that for Vienna, that’s just her!
I could go on and on but I think I’ll stop there… maybe I could write a second instalment in the future!
Ruth
March has been a great month for us here at the Centre. We’ve become so used to working in the new Centre it’s hard to imagine life working from Reindeer House! March is always a relatively quiet month for visitors so it’s meant an excellent ratio of reindeer to people on our daily Hill Trips. Things will start getting busier in April with the school holidays, and reindeer will be back in our Paddocks from Saturday 29th of March. The Paddocks will be a work in progress for some time as we continue to landscape, but at least the reindeer will be back on display for folks to see! Have a read here for up to date info about what’s on offer in the Paddocks: https://www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/paddocks/.
Here’s lots of lovely photos of some of our gorgeous reindeer taken throughout the month!
Ruth
By the end of July the reindeer finally start looking themselves after what seems like a very long moult. They’re now mostly in their short, sleek and darker summer coats and their lovely velvet antlers are looking amazing. It’s been a generally cold summer so far which the reindeer have enjoyed as it means less pesky flies to bother them.
We’ve been busy doing morning harness training sessions with the boys and carrying LOTS of feed up the hill as their appetite has ramped up – their putting all their energy into those growing lovely antlers and big bellies. Some of the free roaming females have been seen by other herders (sadly not me this month yet!) so no pics of them in this blog, but the ones who have been seen have all looked very well, I always love hearing who has been spotted! The office is busy with sorting out Crowdfunding rewards and the usual adoptions. Plus it’s now peak summer holidays so lots of fully-booked Hill Trips and a busy shop.
Ruth
Who takes a holiday at the beginning of May? Yep, three full-time reindeer herders! Myself, Fiona, and Lotti got back on the 8th of May to 13 calves already romping around on the hill. What a treat to see them all and catch up properly on all the news from home.
We got straight in to the thick of it and the calves kept on coming. Hill Trips were fully booked during the bank holidays and Whitsun Week. We had some shorts and t-shirt weather and some FULL waterproofs and warm hat kinda weather. We’ve also been busy in the office running our Crowdfunder campaign which is going incredibly well (please check it out here if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/a-reindeer-experience-for-all). Adoptions are still flying out the office and the June newsletter is being written. Oh, and the brand-new Reindeer Centre went up before our eyes in around 3 days in the middle of the month! An action-packed month!
Just a reminder – we won’t reveal the names of the new mothers until after we’ve let our adopters know in the June newsletter so I’ve tried to be deliberately vague. Enjoy… !
Ruth
Our usual annual practice is the reindeer calves born that spring will join a Christmas team of adult reindeer and go out and about on tour joining in Christmas festivities across the country. This is the start of their training and handling with us which means when the male calves grow up and go on to join a team as an adult with potentially a different role to play (i.e. trained to harness and pulling the sleigh) then they have already seen what events are all about so it’s helpful for their training going forward.
Back in 2020 all the calves born that year didn’t take part in many Christmas events due to our lack of bookings off the back of the COVID pandemic. We knew further down the line that we would have to work harder on these reindeer. Now Christmas 2023 is well behind us, this was the first Christmas where the three year old males were trained to wear harness and pull the sleigh for the first time. We don’t use female reindeer at Christmas as they tend to be pregnant at that time of year and the males we do use are castrates (non-breeding).
So our Christmas reindeer class of 2023 consisted of – Adzuki, Lupin, Haricot, Hemp and Cicero. Although there were more from that year these were the main five boys who went out and about on tour and pulled the sleigh for their first year. While training here in Glenmore I would say they certainly didn’t all take to it like a duck to water. Some were stubborn, some a bit too forward, however, we definitely got to the point over a number of days where they were used to wearing the harness and pulling the sleigh. Some better than others. I’d say Hemp, Haricot and Lupin did really well, whereas Adzuki and Cicero took a little longer but still did great!
So now we get to the third weekend in November and it was time for them to head out with a team of experienced Christmas reindeer and herders to go and do a proper Christmas event. Haricot headed to Tain, a town in the north of Scotland, with Joe, Aurelien and Colin. Hemp and Cicero went to the west coast taking part in two parades that day in Fort William and Oban with Lotti, Lisette and Colin (a different Colin) and Lupin and Adzuki both came to Elgin with Ruth and I where we had further assistance from two of our long-term volunteers.
Time to parade in Tain and Haricot steps up alongside super-duper Christmas reindeer Poirot. In their set-up area Joe puts their harness on. Great, Haricot didn’t bat an eye lid. Now time to pop him in sleigh with Poirot, again he wasn’t fazed. Pipe band get set-up ready to start the parade. Joe is at the front leading and ‘alright boys, walk on’… nothing. ‘Alright boys, walk on’… again, nothing. Haricot decided that an empty sleigh in training was much easier to pull than a sleigh with a heavy Santa on it. After a bit of encouragement Haricot was having none of it so they made the sensible decision to swap him for Aztec (another of our trained Christmas reindeer) and therefore Haricot just had to walk at the back of the sleigh, not pull it. The event went really well but maybe back to the drawing board on this one.
Now to the team on the west coast. Hemp actually went out on Christmas tour as a two year old, not pulling the sleigh but as a reindeer walking at the back so he has had a fair bit of exposure to these types of events. He pulled the sleigh alongside Frost and acted as though he’d done it his whole life. What a star! This was Cicero’s first time on an event so the team decided that he would be at the back of the sleigh to let him take it in and then aim to get him pulling the sleigh in Oban. The parade sets off following the pipe band with Frost and Hemp pulling and Cicero and Dr Seuss with the calves following behind the sleigh. Cicero thought by being at the back he was being left behind so was keen to go forward therefore Colin took his lead rope and walked him up front with the two reindeer pulling… Cicero thought this was much better and although it wasn’t how our usual parades looked with three reindeer at the front I don’t think anyone really noticed and Cicero was happy plodding along there.
Now to Oban which is an evening event so pretty dark. For this one the team popped Cicero in the front alongside Dr Seuss (an old hand when it comes to pulling the sleigh). Contrary to Haricot, I don’t think Dr Seuss did any of the pulling during this parade as Cicero did it all. Give him his due he wasn’t fazed by a weighty Santa. To make sure he didn’t pull too hard two handlers walked with him at the front easing him into the ways of pulling the sleigh. I think he could do with a bit more practice, mainly to learn that there are two reindeer and both should be pulling the sleigh equally…. cough cough, Dr Seuss!!!
Now onto Elgin where I was with Ruth and a couple of volunteers as well as newbies Lupin and Adzuki. We decide that Lupin could pull the sleigh and Adzuki would learn the ropes at the back. We set off, again following a pipe band. Lupin was a total star! Didn’t put a hoof wrong and pulled equally alongside pro Druid. Adzuki, however, like Cicero wasn’t for being left behind at the back of the sleigh and was keen to go forward. Each team makes there own decisions with how to manage their reindeer in the best way they think and it was correct for Cicero to be led forward but in my case I made a different decision as I wanted Adzuki to learn that actually being at the back of the sleigh was absolutely fine and there was no need for him to want to go forward. In my quick thinking I asked one of the volunteers to pass me a sneaky bag of lichen hidden Santa’s bag. With a tasty handful of lichen in my hand suddenly Adzuki was pretty delighted to be walking at the back of the sleigh. This got us through the parade wonderfully but I knew this wasn’t a solution long term. I mean we would have a very happy Adzuki but ultimately he had to learn that lichen wasn’t always going to be available.
The teams came home after that weekend all with their own stories of their ‘COVID calves come adults’ and how it wasn’t quite as smooth sailing as other years. However, they were by no means put off, we just had to be canny with how we handled them and which events they went on. Every weekend they would join a team. Haricot pulled the sleigh at Aberfeldy the following weekend and this time we gave him some help by pushing the sleigh therefore all he had to do was walk at the front. ‘He was a total star’ as reported back by Ruth! Lupin was also in that team but as he pulled like a pro last time he went at the back this time and absolutely nailed it! Cicero the following weekend had a reindeer only event so no parade for him. This type of exposure is still really great though and goes towards his training. Adzuki came to a local event with myself and Mel. It was a short parade but already he was better than before… again the more exposure the better.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day can be two of the busiest days of the year. There are three parades locally on Christmas Eve and they can be dark, busy and fast pace whereas Christmas day there are four parades and they are a bit more laid back and all in the light of day which is easier. With Haricot and Lupin taking to it better than Cicero and Adzuki we decided they would do Christmas Eve and that would leave Christmas Day to Cicero and Adzuki. All alongside some of our other trained Christmas reindeer of course. I cannot sing their praises more, all four boys were absolute superstars! With full sets of antlers they all looked beautiful in the front of the sleigh. They make us feel so proud!
The biggest reward is of course heading to winter free range which happens after Christmas. So to finish off the photos here is Adzuki, still with his enormous set of antlers in February while free ranging with the rest of the herd.
Fiona
Reindeer have a hugely thick coat as they are designed to survive Arctic and sub-Arctic winters, and they are one of the only mammals to have hair covering every part of their body, even including their noses. So they look incredibly cuddly and visitors are usually desperate to stroke them. If you’ve been on one of our Hill Trips pre March 2020, you might remember being allowed to stroke them too, but now we have stopped this direct contact between visitor and reindeer. But why?
First, some background information about reindeer’s behaviour to each other without influence of human presence. Reindeer are not a ‘tactile’ animal, despite their strong herding instinct. Because of their thick coat they have no need to huddle together for warmth at any point, so the only time you see direct contact between them – such as resting their heads on each other – is affection between mother and calf. Calves stay with their mums for a year only (usually), but after this that close bond is broken and direct contact stops.
Living in an incredibly harsh environment also means it’s critical to establish a hierarchy, as reindeer need to be able to compete for food when winter is at it’s hardest – hence the presence of antlers on both males and females. Males are bigger in body size so they lose their antlers first, leaving the smaller females at the top of the pecking order through the winter months when food is at it’s scarcest, and when they are likely to be pregnant too. This means that the herds constantly establish dominance between each other, pushing each other around and chasing less dominant reindeer away from good grazing spots.
Come on a Hill Trip and look around you, and you’re unlikely to see any reindeer nuzzling each other, but it’s almost guaranteed you’ll see reindeer pushing each other around. So a reindeer touching another is generally an agressive action, with antlers – or front feet – used as weapons. The way I like to phrase it to visitors is that we are entering the reindeer’s natural territory, so we therefore play by their rules – touch is a negative thing so we aren’t going to do so.
However, pre-covid, we didn’t have a hard-and-fast rule about not touching the reindeer. It was never something we encouraged, but not something we outright banned. As our reindeer are incredibly tame, many did actually tolerate a gentle stroke or pat, and the ones that didn’t had space to move away from visitors. However, some reindeer were well known for standing there looking beautiful and luring visitors in close, only to try and clobber them. This led to us having to have eyes in the back of our heads as guides, and I found myself frequently – often mid-sentence – having to suddenly holler across the hillside: ‘just stand back from that one!’ / ‘don’t try and touch him!’ / ‘oops, sorry about that… are you ok?’. I found this happening more and more too, as our visitor number increased considerably over recent years. Coupled with that, was people’s inability to read reindeer body language – which is perfectly understandable for those not used to being around animals. Generally a grumpy reindeer will warn visitors to keep their distance before going a step further and insisting that they do, but this is often lost in translation from reindeer to humans. Clear as day to those of us who are well-versed in reindeer, but not to all.
But covid brought about a change that, in hindsight, needed to happen anyway. For months no-one was allowed to touch anything – reindeer included – and we realised just how much more relaxed the herd were with the new ‘hands-off’ rule. The ‘background’ reindeer of the herd – shyer members who would normally keep themselves a good distance away – started wandering in amongst everyone, sometimes within arms reach, but safe in the knowledge that they wouldn’t be patted unexpectedly. Everyone was more relaxed and this included us as guides – since our rules changed I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to rescue an unsuspecting visitor from a reindeer who got out of bed on the wrong side that morning. I’m not going to lie – it does still happen sometimes as animals are always unpredictable, but with far less frequency.
So ‘hands-off’ was here to stay. Once covid guidelines relaxed enough we started allowing visitors to hand-feed the reindeer once again, albeit in a more controlled fashion and allowing one turn per person only. This generally keeps manners better amongst the greediest members of the herd, meaning they only barge around for a short time period before settling down, but it does allow one small bit of contact that visitors crave.
As far as we know, folks who have visited both before and after seem happy with the changes, and almost everyone I’ve spoken to agrees that the reindeer are more relaxed and that their welfare is utmost. And of course, reindeer don’t read the rulebooks so they sometimes choose to touch visitors themselves, which is fine – it’s on their terms. A visitor finding a furry nose suddenly sniffing them, whiskers tickling their skin, is a happy visitor indeed.
It’s perhaps important to add that whilst we don’t – and have never – patted or stroked reindeer unnecessarily, we do have to handle them ourselves, but we do so without ‘fussing’ them. We we need to be able to handle them for veterinary care, worming and vaccinations etc., and this needs to be as unstressful for the animals as possible so we do put work into each individual to make sure they are comfortable being handled in this way. We also need to be able to move reindeer from place to place, so every single animal in the herd is trained to walk on a halter at around 5-6 months old, and a lot of effort goes into getting them easy to catch and halter. If we can’t catch a reindeer we run the risk of not being able to catch them at a critical point, i.e. if ill. Nowadays pretty much all of our reindeer aged 7 or less are catchable with ease as we have put more work into this aspect of training in latter years; but there are admittedly still some wily old reindeer who have to be brought into a shed to get hold of them! Looking at you, Sika…
More work goes into our male reindeer overall, as they help to keep our business afloat by taking part in Christmas parades and events, earning income that helps to pay for their grazing leases etc. But again this is all done in a sensitive way and we work as a partnership with them, and touch is – as ever – kept to the minimum; the reindeer know their job and we know ours, and any reindeer that isn’t comfortable with the situation just stays at home.
So hopefully that gives an overview of why we have stuck to the change we made to Hill Trips in 2020. Initially I was worried we’d have a huge negative backlash from visitors, but there never has been really, and whilst we do know how tempting it is to stroke them, we hugely appreciate everyone’s efforts in not doing so. As we say, if struggling to resist the urge, stick your hands in your pockets!
Hen
Visitors often ask how on earth we tell apart the 150-strong herd of reindeer. Whilst there is variation in colour, markings and antler shape, one of the biggest distinguishing features is actually character. Just like people, reindeer come in every shade of cheeky, shy, friendly, stand-offish, bolshy, greedy, intelligent, daft… I thought I might mention a few stand out character types, past and present!
Overexcited Labrador
Step up, Aztec! Always the first to be involved, always wanting to “help”, very friendly, lovable, and not a manner to be seen if there is a mere sniff of food… Fun, but a bit of a liability.
Also falling into this category: Kipling, Bumble, Eco
The Thinker
Reserved and steady, not always the easiest to catch but utterly dependable when out on tour. Olmec, I’m looking at you.
Also applies to: Dragonfly
TV Diva
Introducing the one and only Holy Moley… who knows full well that she basically had her own TV documentary and hence feels that every visitor is there to see her and her alone.
Also: Dr Seuss appears to feel that his minor starring role in the same show entitles him to extra food portions every single day too.
Sweet as Pie, Wouldn’t Hurt a Fly
Beautiful light-coloured Diamond has to be one of the gentlest souls in the herd. She walks with a slight limp after an injury back in her younger days, which of course means we all (needlessly) slip her extra bits of feed.
Also: Amber, Esme, Sunflower
Loyal and True
Certain reindeer can always be relied upon when we’re moving the free-range herd – they’ll be near the front, they willingly have a headcollar put on, they trustingly plod behind you whilst the rest of the herd debate whether your bribe is worth coming for. Okapi, you’re the star here.
Also: Olympic
The Boy Band Pin-Up
Sherlock has to be one of the most impressive looking reindeer in the herd today, and he also knows how to work it. Some reindeer naturally prick their ears for a photo, and seem to offer their best side!
Also: Elvis, of whom there was never a bad photo taken!
Grumpy Old Men (and Women)
Bond may only be 5 years old, but he definitely ticks every box for “grouchy” – you only need to look at him and he rolls his eyes at the thought that you might try to interact with him. Likewise, walking too near Lace or Turtle is likely to extract a swing of the antlers and a snap of the mouth as a warning. Turtle is Pony’s daughter, who was perhaps the grumpiest reindeer we’ve ever had in the herd, so it’s definitely inherited!
Also: Addja once implanted his antlers into my leg when in a bad mood, only to cast one, which definitely didn’t make him any more cheery (though it did make me chuckle at the instant karma).
Big Friendly Giant
One of the tallest, heftiest reindeer in the herd, Scrabble was a bit of a liability in his youth as he was just so keen to meet everyone, and somewhat unaware of his sheer size. It almost seemed that his bum was so far away from his brain that he couldn’t keep track of the children he was wiping out as he turned around… Now he’s an old fella so a bit steadier, but just as friendly and enormous!
Also: Comet
Don’t Mess With…
Brie may look little and cute, but her first instinct if she doesn’t like something is to beat it/them with her antlers, and whilst she both she and her antlers may be small, she is ANGRY. As Mel once found out when leading Brie, and Brie decided she did NOT want to be there…
Also: Spy. If Spy has calved, it usually takes about four herders, all hiding behind gates/fences to move her where we want her to be.
Andi