November has whizzed by. Even more so because I took a week off at the beginning of the month. Don’t worry though, this blog has just as many photos in as normal!
When I left at the end of October the rut was still underway for a couple of our breeding bulls. On my return the rut was well and truly over, and sleigh training had started! One reason I love this job is that every season is different with new things happening every few weeks.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy this snapshot of November. The snowy days were some of my favourites!
13th of November: Morven with her crazy curly antlers!13th of November: I’ve only just noticed Beanie and Quickstep (Pinto’s calf) have matching coloured hooves!13th of November: Sleigh training on a soggy afternoon in Glenmore. Kulfi and Jester at the back.14th of November: Kulfi and Jester in the Paddocks. Kulfi drinking from the burn that flows through their night-time (off show) enclosure.14th of November: Six-month-old Jig looking handsome! He’s Chickpea’s calf.14th of November: Beautiful Beret on a cold morning.14th of November: Salsa and her mum Sundae behind. 15th of November: My first Christmas event of the season in Buckie. The team were amazing. 17th of November: I helped out on a photoshoot trying to get the reindeer into position for two models. Kernel, Zoom and Dr Seuss were very obliging… if food was on the cards!18th of November: Reindeer on the ski road! A regular sight at this time of year. 18th of November: Sanna and Tiree keeping me warm in the lorry.18th of November: Sleigh training in the snow! Zoom pulling for the very first time alongside Mivvi. 20th of November: Snow has arrived!! Alba looking amazing. 20th of November: Florence leading the herd through the snow. 20th of November: More snowy reindeer – they’re all so stunning. This is Popsicle closest to camera and Cheer behind. 20th of November: Vanilla camouflaged for the first time since last winter!21st of November: Haka suckling from his mum Christie. 21st of November: Another white reindeer in the snow! This time six-month-old Morris.22nd of November: Patchy snow on the hill this morning after a warmer spell. This is Oro who potentially has the best tuft of all calves this year. He belongs to Emmental. 22nd of November: Sorbet and daughter Ballet sharing a pile of food. 27th of November: Cicero patiently waiting for breakfast.27th of November: Some of this year’s gorgeous calves Bolero, Waltz, Lochi, and Foxtrot’s nose!
Where has October gone?! It was a pretty hectic month here with the rut in full swing, halter training the calves, free ranging reindeer keeping us busy, and three weeks of October holidays. But it’s been very fun and hopefully a successful rut – we’ll find out in the spring! The big news was that we managed to open the Exhibition! We did a very ‘soft opening’ just letting the October holiday makers have a look around to test things out. The best place to find up to date information regarding our Paddocks and Exhibition is still our website, or feel free to give us a call.
1st of October: Torch looking mega – she’s in great condition and looks particularly super for 13 year old.6th of October: Cowboy investing the bags – “any more food for me?!”6th of October: The gorgeous Winnie, she’s now 2.5 years old so was running with a bull this autumn. We’re so proud of our little hand-reared calf!7th of October: Handsome Jester.7th of October: Choc-ice has been one of our breeding bulls this year. He certainly knows where the lichen comes from – this was the face that met us most mornings.9th of October: Kernel looking for food. Kulfi and Christie are behind.10th of October: Reindeer on the skyline. 11th of October: Mother and daughter – Sunflower and Fika.11th of October: Zoom will be trained to pull a sleigh this autumn.18th of October: Feeding the herd on a glorious morning.20th of October: Dr Seuss posing beautifully. 20th of October: Wonderful Emm walking off Orinoco and Suebi – they’d be running with Jimmy the bull but after a few weeks Jimmy seemed to be done with the rut, so these girls got to go back out on the free range.21st of October: Bordeaux and calf.21st of October: Beret and calf – he has super cool face markings.22nd of October: Jester and Kernel chewing the cud together. 23rd of October: Dante and her beautiful dark calf.29th of October: Feeding the calves out of the bag. It’s turned them all into absolute monsters! 29th of October: Tap and calf. Two of the darkest reindeer in the entire herd.30th of October: Pinto and her son.
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!
Beret and her mum Brie free ranging on Cairngorm. An alliteration and a French link.Beret in 2024, with her daughter who we later named Brew.
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’).
Aztec – one of the greediest reindeer in the herd. A trait inherited from his mum Gazelle. He tends to grow quite small antlers. Athens, also very greedy, who tends to grow very wide antlers.Adzuki, perhaps the least food-obsessed of the three brothers, who tends to grow very tall antlers.
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’).
Emmental and her son Iskrem enjoying the free range.Ob and older brother Iskrem, both with matching white noses.
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’.
Ibex and Flax, mother and daughter, out free ranging together.
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!
Flax and Camomile.Nile, big brother to Camomile.
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.
Zap – Pagan’s son looking a bit scruffy during the moult. This was the most ‘witchy’ ice cream name we could come up with. We imagined a witch’s wand might make a zapping sound when used!Winnie’s gorgeous nose.
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.
Suebi and her twins – May 2023.
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.
We’re already into calving season 2025, but I’m still finding it hard to believe last year’s calves are already turning into yearlings! In this photo blog you can see Latte grow up from a newborn to a one year old.
Latte was born to mum Brie on the 7th of May 2024. This is them on the 11th of May, Latte is just 4 days old and aleady quite brave coming to say hello.On the 3rd of June we opened the gates and Latte went off to free roam for the summer with her mum, in a herd of other mothers and calves. Latte is in the middle of this photo.On the 19th of June I was lucky enough to bump into Brie and Latte whilst they were out free ranging in the hills. They both looked great, although Brie looked rather scruffy as she’s starting the moult.Another photo from the 19th of June – what a cutie!Andi’s photo from an adventure out on to the free range in mid July – Brie now looking much scruffier but her darker summer coat more visible underneath and larger velvet antlers than her last appearance in this blog. Latte is also moulting her calf coat.Latte and big sister, Beret, on the 11th of September, both now back in the hill enclosure after a summer of free ranging. Both girls have lovely matching white noses, just like their mum.Latte and Brie in October 2024 both growing in their beautiful fresh winter coats.Just a silly photo of Latte from November.Latte out on a local Christmas event at Landmark in December 2024. As a female Latte won’t do any other Christmas work in the future but getting her out a wee bit with a team of big boys means she’s de-senitised to many things, very tame and used to being on a halter, and therefore super easy to work with whilst back home in the mountains.Latte on a sunny day in February 2025 – she’s been back out free ranging since the end of the Christmas holidays.Brie and Latte (with a mouthful of lichen!) in March 2025. She’s recently cast an antler. Latte on a glorious day in early April 2025, now with no antlers!23rd of April – Brie and Latte in the hill enclouse. Latte is just beginning to grow her second set of antlers.Brie and Latte on the 6th of May – the day before her first birthday! Well done Brie for rearing such a lovely lass!
It’s well known that I have soft spots for a lot of reindeer, often if I have worked closely with them during free range missions or out on Christmas tours etc. However, one cohort I’m particularly fond of is the ‘hats’- reindeer born in spring 2021. In May 2021, I returned to reindeer herding after three years of trying out something different. My return was wonderful, and I instantly got stuck into the busy calving season. Just like the reindeer born in 2017 (the Authors and Poets) which was my first ever calving season, I’m very fond of the 2021 cohort, particularly as it was a relatively small calving. The three remaining females, Beanie, Beret, and Trilby are all different in both looks and personality.
In spring 2024 all three of them had their own calves – another generation to become attached to! They’ve all done so well, especially as first-time mums. This blog is just an excuse to show lots of lovely photos of them!
Beanie and Beret together in March 2024.Beanie, Maisy wearing a beanie, and Trilby together in December 2024.
Beanie
Beanie was born on the 19th of May 2021 to mum Gloriana. She has an older brother called Butter and a younger brother called Rocket. When she was a bit younger and still finding her place in the herd Beanie would often be found towards the back and would get pushed around a bit by the older cows. For that reason I think some herders (not mentioning any names…) would spoil her with extra handfeed as we’d feel a little sorry for her! Beanie has now grown up to be a very friendly and greedy lass and is often found lurking behind after a Hill Trip fluttering her eyelashes for extra feed, ever hopeful. I have to use all my resolve not to cave – she definitely doesn’t need it! Beanie had her first calf in 2024, a large male who we named Coffee. He’s grown into one of the biggest calves of the year.
Beanie as a new born calf in May 2021. What a cutie! Beanie and her mum Gloriana in early 2022 free ranging in the hills.Beanie growing a new set of antlers and up to her usual antics – trying to break into a feed bag but looking like butter wouldn’t melt!In May 2024 Beanie had her first calf. A handsome lad called who we later named Coffee and who has grown into one of the biggest calves of the year – go Beanie! Beanie in November 2024 with her usual pleading eyes! It’s hard not to give in…
Beret
Beret is a great character! Her mum Brie is probably the smallest cow in the herd, but she has been a highly successful breeding female over the years so Beret has several siblings including Cicero, Sorbet, and Latte. Whilst Beret was growing up, herders would often come back from a Hill Trip reporting that “she doesn’t know how to be a reindeer”! It took her a while to learn how to hand feed from visitors and there was one memorable winter season where she would jump on visitors for no reason. It was always in a harmless and innocent way but understandably could be intimidating for our visitors! She’s now learnt “how to reindeer” and has matured into a lovely, friendly, dependable lass. In May 2024 she became a mother for the first time – a big female calf who we named Brew who has the tendency to be rather opinionated about everything!
Beret is a firm favourite of herder Lisette and has her own blog here.
Beret and her mum Brie free ranging in early August 2021.Beret and Brie looking very similar with their matching white noses – January 2023.Beret and her younger sister Sorbet behind in August 2023.Beret and her newborn calf Brew in May 2024.Brew a few months later in August looking beautiful amongst the heather!
Trilby
Trilby is a lovely lass! Her mum was a reindeer called Screel who sadly died very unexpectantly in November 2021, leaving Trilby as an orphan. However, by 6 months old Trilby was big and strong enough to not require any special care from us, so she remained in the hills with the herd. We obviously looked out for her and spoilt her where we could! She perhaps doesn’t stand out as much as Beanie and Beret, maybe it’s because she is ‘normal coloured’ and for a while didn’t have a particularly strong personality. But now she’s almost 4 years old her family genetics are kicking in and she’s becoming more confident. Last winter was often at the front of the herd – so I’m hoping she’ll be a future leader! She’s friendly and greedy so we can always catch her out making her easy to work with. Her big sister Scully has serious attitude so maybe Trilby will follow in Scully’s footsteps! This year Trilby had a wee female calf who we named Tetley, so far Tetley is generally sweet-natured but I think has some attitude lurking fairly close to the surface!
Trilby as a calf in October 2021.Trilby free ranging in March 2023.January 2024 – Trilby on the right leading the herd, alongside old girl Okapi. Trilby and her calf who we later named Tetley in June 2024.Trilby and Tetley a few months later in August 2024. Tetley’s antlers didn’t get much bigger than these tiny bumps, but she’s in good condition and I’m sure as a yearling will grow a bigger pair.
For anyone who didn’t read part 1 then check it out here!
Halter training:
October is halter training time for our reindeer, we will (temporarily) take the calves away from their mums and start doing some training. This is very helpful in case we need to catch them for any treatment in the future or walk them to a new area. Some of the well-trained, castrated reindeer end up doing some Christmas events in the festive season and sometimes the cattle will go to an event or show, needing to be halter trained.
Reindeer or cattle, the first time on a halter can be a bit difficult as it’s an unfamilar sensation having something on your face. We will try to give them lots of nice food and the best experience as possible. The second day will be much more relaxed for both handler and animal already, but is does take some work and patience to get them to walk nicely on a halter without them being stubborn or without any pulling.
Halter training with cattle can be a bit more dangerous as they are heavy in weight and pretty strong. Not only that, where reindeer physically can’t kick backwards with their rear legs, cattle can! At least, luckily both reindeer and cattle will not bite you, as they both don’t have upper teeth, but instead have a strong dental pad (gum without teeth).
One of the reasons why we halter train all our reindeer is so we can catch them out whilst free ranging incase we need to move them. This bunch of free rangers were easy to catch with that big bag of bribery next to Lisette!Halter reaining in Glen Nevis.
Relaxing:
Reindeer or cattle, they all do love a bit of relaxing time!!
Ted having a nap!Mairi enjoying the sun on her side.Kelpie enjoying the sun.Akubra enjoying some autumnal sunshine!Cowboy fast asleep.Dr Seuss relaxing, probably after eating lots of hand feed!
Green things(!):
Reindeer in the Cairngorms and Highland cattle in Glen Nevis, they all love the color green; bags, scoops, bins, or even green vans!
Reindeer calves eating out of the green bag – Tub, Magnum, Viennetta, and Mr Whippy!Beret seeing if we’ve got any extra food for her in our green bins in the hill enclosure.Enjoying a quick snack from a green scoop!Checking out Lisette’s green van!
Selfies:
Reindeer and cattle don’t mind a selfie or close-up photo either!
Max with his big wet nose.Beret and her lovely furry, warm nose!
Cow and calf:
Cow and calf reindeer, Scully and new-born Yukon.Cow and calf Highlanders!
Popularity:
Another thing they both have in common, they’re native to Scotland and tourists love seeing them!
Happy people on a Hill Trip visiting the reindeer.People enjoying seeing the Highland cow herd in Glen Nevis.
Reindeer used to be native to Scotland but went extinct. Nobody knows exactly when, but we think the last reindeer (still roaming in Caithness and Cairngorm area, the coldest places in the UK) went extinct around the 1000 years ago due to different reasons, such as range restriction and people overhunting them. In other areas of Britain, reindeer disappeared much earlier, due to natural climate change after the last ice-age, the habitat changed and there was less suitable food for this Artic animal.
We think Highland cattle have descended from the Egyptian Long horn cattle. These cattle were well established and domesticated in the Nile village around 6000 years ago. Neolithic farmers brought these cattle into Britain. The group of cattle settled in the Highlands had to adapt to the colder and windy weather, growing lots more hair!
Another story is, that the Celtic immigrant people brought their Short Horns, another old breed (all cattle likely come from the Aurochs, originating either in North India or Central Asia and spreading into North Africa and into Europe) to the Scottish Island, where again, they had to adapt to the harsh weather. These cattle, black in color, were first called Kyloe (from the way they swam or were ferried across the kyles) and are now known as Highland cattle, mixing with the cattle on the mainland and domesticated into different colors, mostly red haired due to Queen Victoria’s preference. The Highland cattle herd book was established in 1885.
After the reindeer got re-introduced in Scotland to the Cairngorms (still the coldest place in the UK) in 1952, people fell in love with them and the Reindeer Centre has been taking people to see the reindeer on Hill Trips or in our Paddocks.
On the Glen Nevis Estate I’ve started taking people up to see the cattle since last year, March-October, either on a guided walk in the Glen or on the Hairy Cow Experience (find out more here: https://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/activities).
I have been a reindeer herder for the last three and a half years, working two days per week. For the rest of the time I live in Fort William where amongst many other things I look after a herd of Highland cattle. I thought it would make a fun blog to talk about some similarities and differences I find working with these two very hairy animals.
Names:
Of course, Highland cattle and reindeer do not look like each other at all, but we do call the female cattle and reindeer cows, and we call the male cattle and reindeer bulls, and their young calves.
Highland calf in Glen Nevis.Some lovely calves from the Cairngorm reindeer herd.Highland bull Ted.Highland bull Bealach.Roman, a very impressive reindeer bull, in September 2021.Reindeer bull Sherlock.
Horns or Antlers:
Highland cattle have got horns on their head, made from keratin, with the life core in the middle. They will grow slowly and keep growing their whole lifetime.
Reindeer, like most other deer species, have got antlers on their head. They grow quickly, fall off, and grow back every single year. These are not made from keratin, but bone. While they grow, a special tissue called velvet is on the outside, beneath that is the blood supply feeding the growing bone.
Normally Highland cattle will not lose their horns; however, we do have one exception in Glen Nevis, our famous girl Mairi. She broke her horn 4 years ago, I’ve no idea what happened, it will remain a mystery forever.
Mairi with her broken horn.
And normally reindeer will grow a nice set of antlers, but after a little accident and surgery when she was only a little calf, reindeer Holy Moley will only grow one antler every year too!
The lovely Holy Moley with her one antler!
Coats:
Both animals grow a thick winter coat, and they will lose this coat for the summer months.
Instead of melting, the snow will stay on their body as they don’t give away any of their body heat, keeping the cold out and warmth in.
A snowy Highlander!Juniper and Sundae in the middle of a snowy herd.Sheila in her thick winter coat.Sheila looking smart in her summer coat.Beret in her beautiful thick and light-colored winter coat.Beret in their much thinner and darker looking summer coat.In June, all reindeer look very scruffy, hairs flying everywhere. This is Cowboy losing his winter coat in June 2022.
Highland cattle sometimes need (and like) a hand getting rid of their winter coat, by giving them a brush in springtime. However, they also don’t mind a nice brush other times of the year.
Giving the cows a helping hand during the moult.Ted enjoying a summer brush.
Where reindeer don’t like being touched, most of the cattle I work with absolutely love it. Reindeer are not tactile animals; they don’t groom each other. If a reindeer touches another reindeer, they do this to tell the other reindeer that he or she is in their private space and need to move out of their way. If people touch them, they likely just walk away, thinking we are telling them off.
There are of course a few reindeer who don’t mind getting touched, mostly because they’re hoping for some extra food.
A quick reindeer interaction with Beret, nothing to do with the food bag under Lisette’s arm! 😉
Cattle love licking each other. Like every person and animal, they all have their own character, but most of the Glen Nevis herd will do anything for a brush. We will try not to do this over winter, as we don’t want to pull out their hair which protects them in the colder weather.
Iona and Rain enjoying each others touch, early summer 2024.
For anyone that has visited the reindeer on a Hill Trip, you’ll know that we do a small talk about the reindeer before we feed them. If I’m not the person chatting, I like to stand back and enjoy the mischief that the reindeer come up with when they’re getting impatient waiting for their food. There are a few techniques that the reindeer use to try and get their food early and I thought it would make an amusing blog for you wonderful readers.
The final talk on a Hill Trip where a herder introduces people to the reindeer and we aim to tell you about some of their fascinating adaptations for life in the sub Arctic. We can get very distracted by misbehaving reindeer!The green feed bag is like a magnet for our reindeer! Here’s Mivvi following Sheena down the hill.
Considering that reindeer have epic senses of smell, it isn’t surprising that they can sniff out where the food is (and to be honest we don’t hide it either) their food is carried up to the reindeer in big green sacks, so they’re super obvious. If one of us (herders) is taking a Hill Trip by ourselves, we are conducting a talk whilst trying to deter reindeer snuffling about our feed bags, kicking our bags or even trying to bite through the bags! Which I suspect leads to great entertainment for our visitors. So having an extra pair of hands there is always appreciated. Now down to the good stuff…
The first technique is to kick the feed sack, obviously in the hopes that food may fall out. But as you can imagine those big feet can cause a bit of damage to our poor feed sacks. Whilst chatting away, you will have a group of keen reindeer pawing away at the bag which is really distracting!
The worst culprits for this are usually the yearlings as through the previous winter they received preferential feeding from the green sacks and I suspect they’re frustrated that they can’t now eat from the bags- quite rightly so, extra food is always awesome!
This photo is from early spring 2024 when the ‘black tags’ (those born in spring 2023) were still getting preferential food. It’s a tough lesson when they realise they’re not the youngest in the herd anymore and not invited into the bag anymore. Some learn pretty quickly. Others are still struggling with the concept after years (yes you, Holy Moley aged 4 and Dr Seuss aged 7).The 2024 calves feeding out of the bag first this September – the poor black tags have a bit of a shock when they are shooed away!Isla and Cassie allowing the calves in the bag first to feed whilst the adult reindeer have to wait for the food to go out on the ground. Hemp is up on his hind legs in the background – pushing another reindeer away and making sure he gets to stand as close as possible to the bags!Sometimes you just can’t wait like Yangtze as a calf mugging Joe!
For the next tactic, one specific reindeer comes to mind, and that is Magnum a very handsome 2-year-old who loves to chew our feed sacks and create holes from which he can steal food from. He is very skilled at it and if you’re not paying attention can quickly break his way through our feed sacks. Due to the way that we herders carry the food up the hill, holey bags lead to reindeer food going down the back of our shirts, which isn’t a great feeling.
Magnum trying to make a hole in our bag mid talk! It seems a bit mean to chase him away in front of our lovely visitors when that’s their first impression of the herd but he’s destroyed so many bags! He is relentless and it can be very distracting when we’re trying to tell people how lovely all our reindeer are. Magnum trying his hardest!
If kicking the sack hasn’t worked, some reindeer then rush over to the visitors in anticipation for the sweet snack they get while visitors hand feed. This can often happen straight away, happening as soon as we have stopped the group to chat to visitors. Once the reindeer have had a quick smell of folks’ pockets, they will head back to the feed sack again. Yearlings Nile and Elbe are guilty of this and are prone to getting right into peoples faces hoping for food.
This is Beret! She’s now learnt how hand feeding works, but it took her a while to cotton on! She spent a whole winter (gently) jumping on people and rubbing her face on our visitors to see if she then got hand feed. Photo: Yvonne BannisterHemp being his usual cheeky self! We don’t allow our visitors to touch the reindeer but the rule doesn’t work both ways. Hemp is probably one of the worst culprits for touching visitors. This is him rubbing his face on somebody’s bag! Thankfully this lovely visitor found the experience funny, but for our more nervous visitors this cheeky behavior can be overwhelming so it’s certainly not encouraged!
One of the final techniques I will mention is the puppy dog eye approach. This usually occurs when the group has dispersed, and visitors are off taking pictures of reindeer. Herders will stand holding the empty feed bag and a few reindeer like Druid, Bordeaux, and Olympic will stand next to us patiently waiting for extra food to come their way. Don’t tell the reindeer, but this is usually the best way to manipulate a herder into giving them extra food! When it comes to some of the tamer reindeer, like Nile, Winnie and Elbe puppy dog eyes progress into snuffling through human pockets, leaning their heads on humans and general personal space invasion until they break us herders and we give in.
The Druid approach: “any food in that white bag of yours?”A classic Bordeaux face – hard to resist!Elbe making sure herder Hannah can’t miss him!
Calving season May 2021 was my first month being a reindeer herder.
Later that year at Christmas time, I wanted to adopt a reindeer for my nephew Daley and for my niece Joelle in the Netherlands, but who to choose from all those hundred and fifty nice reindeer in the Cairngorms?
Mum Brie was my calving bet that year and she gave birth to a female calf, who we called Beret. Beret was a lovely light-colored reindeer calf, very sweet. As Joelle likes brie (as in the cheese) I thought it would be nice to adopt Brie’s daughter Beret for Joelle, both having a French name as well. Last week was all about Cowboy, my chosen reindeer for my nephew Daley; see that blog by clicking here.
The chosen reindeer! Beret on the left and Cowboy on the right.
Beret spent a lot of time roaming freely on the Cairngorm mountains. She likes to stay around her family, often grazing close to her mum Brie and her younger sisters Sorbet (born 2022) and Danube (born unexpectedly in 2023 on the free range).
The times she was in our hill enclosure, Beret wasn’t quite sure how to behave as a reindeer. Last year she was jumping on top of people to ask for handfeed!
She ran with one of our bulls in Autumn breeding season 2023 and in May (after a winter of free ranging, enjoying her freedom and eating lots of lichen) she gave birth for the first time! She had a big dark colored beautiful female calf and she also got a new baby sister in May this year. All have been out free ranging on the mountains again for the summer months and in September they came back to the hill enclosure so we could halter train the calves.
This Autumn 2024 Beret is behaving a bit more like an adult meeting visitors from our Hill Trips, she is a mum now after all. Her calf and little sister both look great.
Here’s some lovely photos of Beret growing up:
Brie and her calf Beret out free ranging in the hills – July 2021. Beret back in the hill enclosure – August 2021. What a cutie!Beret now growing in her lovely winter coat – September 2021.Beret with her thick winter coat – December 2021.Beret having a rest, most likely after eating lots of food – February 2022.Beret after recently casting an antler – April 2022.Beret beginning to grow her new set of antlers – May 2022.Beret moulting her old winter coat but still looking very cute – June 2022.Beret – January 2023 enjoying the snow!Beret beginning to grow a new set of antlers – April 2023.Beret looking very smart in her summer coat – August 2023.A recent picture of Beret from last month in the middle of stripping her velvet – September 2024.Beret’s lovely calf! She’s done such a good job especially as first time mum.This is Beret and her wee sister. Beret’s mum Brie had another calf this year adding to the family! Beret and the new addition have lovely matching white noses.Granny Brie with her new calf.
Hopefully, when Daley and Joelle are a bit older, they will be able to come up and meet Cowboy and Beret in Scotland.
Calving season May 2021 was my first month being a reindeer herder.
Later that year at Christmas time, I wanted to adopt a reindeer for my nephew Daley and for my niece Joelle in the Netherlands, but who to choose from all those hundred and fifty nice reindeer in the Cairngorms?
I mostly liked the name Cowboy. Named after a cowboy hat (calving theme in 2021) but also keeping the name animal related. Cowboy’s mum was Pony and Cowboy’s sister is named Turtle (after the bean). A cowboy is not only a person who takes care of cattle, but in movies he is described as a bit of a hero or maybe even a bit of a naughty person in a nice kind of way. Reindeer Cowboy, was a gorgeous dark colored calf and he (now 3 and a half years old) is still very handsome. I decided to adopt him for my nephew Daley. Next week’s blog will be about Beret, my chosen reindeer for my niece Joelle.
Beret on the left and Cowboy on the right – the chosen reindeer for adoption!
Here some lovely photos of Cowboy growing up:
Mum Pony (with her mouth full!) and newborn Cowboy!Cowboy aged 4 months old – September 2021Cowboy on a frosty morning – December 2021Cowboy – December 2021Cowboy – February 2022Cowboy with one antler – March 2022Cowboy growing his new set of antlers and losing his winter coat – June 2022Cowboy still looking very scruffy but with bigger antlers then the previous pic – July 2022Cowboy in November 2022 in the woods adjacent to the Paddocks. He grew a very funny set of antlers in 2022, a pointy V (peace sign) sticking out in front of his face on his left antler.Cowboy in September 2023 – what a handsome boy!
Cowboy spent time at the farm in Glenlivet last summer (2023) and grazing on the free-range over the winter months.
This summer he spent a lot of time in our hill enclosure and it’s nice to see him more often on the Hill Trips. He also loves getting hand feed!
Cowboy looking for more hand feed, September 2024
I’ve spotted him fast asleep not long ago, dreaming I’m sure.. rolling his eyes and twisting his legs. I took my chance to quietly sit next to him for a minute, thinking he would walk away as soon as he woke up and realized someone was sitting next to him. However, he opened his eyes, looked at me, changed position and went back to sleep! Dreaming about food?!
