Brew - The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

19th September 202517th September 2025

Summer free ranging

This summer I have had a lovely spell of catching up with our cows and calves out on the free range. After missing both of the nights that we lead the cows and calves out onto the free range a small group decided that I couldn’t miss out and were found loitering outside the hill enclosure the following morning, it was a glorious morning to be moving reindeer and allowed me to spend some time with the group before they went to higher ground.

Thankfully for Amy the second batch of cows and calves to leave the enclosure didn’t go far and she was able to go catch up with them the following day just outside the hill enclosure.

My first trip out to see the free rangers was at the end of July, heading to an area that the herd frequent through the summer; this is an area of the hill that I’ve heard a lot about, but hadn’t seen it first-hand. After a bit of a slog going up hill due to the heat, the temperature began to decrease, it became windier and a whole lot more comfortable (no wonder the reindeer like the top of the hills!) after a short period of time I stumbled across a group of cows and calves and began to identify them. I would say this is the most overwhelming part of heading out onto the free range as you want to try and document as much as possible so we can keep track of who we have seen and also take lots of pictures and videos to reference in the future. We are also trying to make it around the group to see what condition they are in and see if everyone is well in themselves, since the summer is when there can be long spells between us catching up with the females. I have included a few pictures of some of the girls that I caught up with on this trip. Due to the time of the year, they’re very scruffy as they are moulting out of their winter coat still and I could already see some impressive antlers. As I was enjoying my time with the herd, another group of older girls joined us – at a distance. Even at that distance you can see how epic Spy’s antlers are.

Cheer and Chai – mother and yearling daughter still hanging out together.

Vienna and Scully – still looking rather scruffy but you can see their smart summer coats beneath the tatty old winter coat.

Beret’s calf, much paler than Tap’s above, showing the variety in coat colour.

Marple having a good summer and growing her usual lovely antlers.

Spy on the skyline – even at a distance her antlers look epic!

I am continuingly amazed at how much the reindeer move around on the free range and it definitely becomes more apparent during the summer; we can head out to different areas on the free range and still come across the same reindeer. Just over a week later, I went back out onto the free range and caught up with a smaller group of cows and calves (on another warm day, much to my dismay), but having these warmer spells means that you can almost guarantee that the reindeer will be higher up and lazing around rather than travelling great distances; making my life easier. It was a mixed group of reindeer I had seen the previous trip and some other cows that I hadn’t seen since they had gone out on to the free range, which was lovely as I could appreciate how the calves had changed in the week or so since I had last seen them.

Marple and calf a week or so later – you can see how much Marple has moulted in that time.

Amy

1st August 20251st August 2025

Choosing Reindeer Names

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!

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!

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

30th May 202530th May 2025

Photo Blog: May 2025

The start of May was a whirlwind! The first calf of the year was born on the 25th of April, then the cows left us in suspense for a whole week until the 2nd of May until the next one came along. It was then a flurry of calves being born all over the place – we had 19 within one week! Calving then slowed down and things became a bit calmer with the last one found on the 28th. In general we’ve had a very successful month and the vast majority of the calves and their mums are already out free roaming in the hills – I can’t wait to head out to see them over the summer.

On top of this we’ve also had two Hill Trips a day and all the usual business in the office. So I’ll leave it there and just let you enjoy the cute pictures…

As 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.

1st of May: Brew bored of me talking on a Hill Trip and finding a comfy seat on my rucksack! I’m sure a lot of visitors would empathise with her – I do tend to go on a bit.

1st of May: Sisters Zambezi and Juniper hanging out together.

6th of May: A gorgeous newborn male calf.

6th of May: Bordeaux and Turtle wondering what I’m up to on another beautiful day. I’m starting to forget what rain feels like!

7th of May: Amazon looking beautiful whilst out free ranging in the hills!

7th of May: Druid is a shy boy and doesn’t handfeed but he loves eating from the white bag at the end of the visit, as you can tell from the crumbs on his nose!

9th of May: Choc-ice is a bold and rather cheeky fella!

12th of May: This gorgeous wee one is just over a week old and already very settled around us, so long as mum isn’t too far away!

12th of May: Cameron walking a calf into the ‘nursery’ area of our enclosure, the mum is just ahead, off camera and this wee one is less than 12 hours old.

13th of May: Andi feeding the main herd in the enclosure. Look at the size of Sherlock’s antlers next to everyone else! Busby closest to camera.

13th of May: A beautiful calf chilling out in a bog!

14th of May: Three ‘normal coloured’ calves in the wrong place on the other side of a fence to their (unconcerned) mums! Who do you belong to?!

14th of May: Another calf cooling down in a bog. Look at that row of bottom teeth!

17th of May: Spartan tapping his antlers encouraging their growth.

18th of May: The first batch of calves getting walked out! Here’s Cameron walking with a mother and her calf following on behind.

18th of May: Free ranging mother and calf! A beautiful evening waving them off!

18th of May: Another calf now free ranging in the hills for the summer. Good luck wee one!

19th of May: Kuksa yawning after a Hill Trip. Tiring work being this cute!

21st of May: A really funky coloured calf! What a cutie.

23rd of May: One year old Chai having a suckle from mum Cheer. Usually the calves stop suckling long before this but Cheer and Chai remain closely bonded.

27th of May: How Jimmy spent the majority of my Hill Trip – at my side giving me the puppy dog eyes!

28th of May: Another reindeer calf just for good measure!

28th of May: Elbe, the twin brother to his more famous sister Alba, looking great.

29th of May: Some of our gorgeous boys – Jester, Kulfi, Busby, Mivvi and Olmec.

Ruth

4th April 20256th April 2025

The Hat Girls

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

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 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!

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.

Ruth