April has been a busy month with some glorious spring weather and some incredibly wild winter weather too. The first half of the month saw the Easter Holidays so we had lots of visitors around – some days we put on an additional Hill Trip in the afternoon when the morning visit sold out, and in the afternoons we ran “Seasonal Herder Talks” in our Paddocks. The second half of the month was busy with moving reindeer around getting them in the right places for the fast-approaching calving season… exciting! Pregnant females were brought into our hill enclosure and the “single ladies” (mostly the old girls retired from breeding or ones having a year off motherhood) were put back out to free range after a quick health check in the enclosure.
It’s been a fun month watching antlers casting and growing, and bellies widen on our pregnant females! Bring on calving season!
1st of April: We have reindeer back in our Paddocks! From left to right is Kiruna, Jelly, Sherlock and Busby, all here for the first half of the Easter holidays.2nd of April: Fiona and I spent the day with Tilly where we brought of some male reindeer down from their winter free range. Here we have Dr Seuss, Spartan and Scolty ready to be taken down to the hill farm in Glenlivet.5th of April: Andi and I spent the morning moving the reindeer into position for the morning Hill Trip. You can just see Andi in the distance letting the calves feed out of the bags first.6th of April: Cousins Fab and Tub causing trouble!7th of April: Lopsided Florence demonstrating an excellent example of antler growth and development. 8th of April: Sherlock not remotely bothered about our wobbly fence, but it’s easy to forgive him with a nose like that!11th of April: Beautiful morning to see the free ranging herd. Here they are crossing a burn with the Northern Corries looking dramatic in the distance.11th of April: Emm is here and grinning away as always! Emm is one of our fabulous volunteers and was up for for a couple of weeks to help us out during April, Here she is defending the bags from the older reindeer. 12th of April: The return of winter! A VERY wintery and wild day to be on the hill. Here’s Fly leading the herd, growing her lovely velvety antlers. Pumpkin and Lace not too far behind.13th of April: Fly posing beautifully, showing off her fast-growing antlers. Cameron in the background waiting for me to stop taking photos!16th of April: Fiona feeding the herd in the hill enclosure. Check out that wide belly nearest the camera!17th of April: Glacée almost a year old and looking gorgeous! Her new antlers just beginning to grow.19th of April: Marple and her calf from 2022, Viennetta, are now in the enclosure after a winter free ranging. 20th of April; All three leucistic calves together – from left to right we’ve got 99, Mr Whippy and Vanilla.21st of April: Moving the free rangers through the ski area on a gorgeous sunny morning.24th of April: Beret appreciating her winter coat more today after the recent sunny weather – there’s snow dusting Meall a’ Bhuachaille (the hill behind) and hail showers during the Hill Trip. 27th of April: The boys are back in town! Fiona and I spent the morning at the hill farm and brought back six lovely Christmas Reindeer to the enclosure here on Cairngorm. Super to have them here again!
Following on from the blog last week, with lots of silly photos of reindeer yawning (click here to see that) I thought I’d post a blog show-casing the various sleeping postures of reindeer!
It does seem like the perfect time to post this blog as with the busy Christmas season now over, and the Reindeer Centre shutting on Monday the 9th of January until Saturday the 11th of February, most reindeer herders are generally looking in need of a decent sleep too!
So, for no other reason than hopefully to make a few folk smile, here comes lots of photos of snoozing reindeer…
Here’s the loveable Celt (mid-moult) sleeping directly on his nose. A popular sleeping posture for many reindeer! July 2021.An arty picture of Stenoa, also having a kip on his snozzle – October 2021.This is Clouseau demonstrating the curled in a ball method of sleeping, right next to a visitor’s feet – July 2022.Here’s Kipling in the ball position – March 2022.Hobnob is using the ball technique in December 2022 during a blizzard.During a Christmas event in Langholm, December 2021, Bond opted for the ball technique.Another sleeping position is with a head on one side and an antler flat on the ground. Dr Seuss is displaying this beautifully here – September 2022.Here’s Spartan demonstrating the head on one side technique – August 2021.Busby found a nice comfy tussock here to use as a pillow – December 2021.Dr Seuss snoozing again, this time using a mossy pillow to make sure he’s extra comfortable – October 2021.Another position is the completely flat-out, and in this case soaking up as much sun as possible! Here is Texel and her calf (now named 99) in early June 2022.Busby in the middle of this group of dozing reindeer is also displaying the flat-out method! Meanwhile, his mum Hopscotch (closet to the camera) is choosing to sleep on her nose. December 2022.Sunny often used the flat-out method in our kitchen by the washing machine – May 2022.At an event in Aberfeldy, Sunny opted for the flat out method again, whilst his team mates are mostly using the ball strategy! December 2022.Legs out with a head curled back was Sunny’s preferred napping choice here – July 2022.Morse (closest to the camera) is also choosing the legs out, head curled back method for his post-Hill Trip nap in this picture. Meanwhile, Spider (middle) is in the ball position and Spartan (back) is on his chin – August 2021.And the grand finale – my ultimate snoozy reindeer photo! Topi having a wee nap on Fiona’s shoulder mid-parade on Christmas Day 2017.
