Tag: Christie

Posted on

Wee calfie antlers!

With autumn being the season that the calves return to the hill enclosure, along with their mums, it’s always exciting to see them and to start to get to know them as characters. Having spent all summer with males only in the enclosure, it’s suddenly a bit overwhelming to have a sea of ‘new’ reindeer to get to know once again! The calves are the hardest to learn who is who.

Last time we saw them properly, in late spring, they were tiny and heading out to free-range in their calf coats, which are quite different in colouration to an adult reindeer’s coat. By autumn they’ve moulted, grown their new winter coat, and are many times bigger – i.e. they look COMPLETELY different! Other than very obvious colour variation and face markings, their wee antlers are the easiest way to tell them apart. The photo below shows Macchiato at 4 months old, looking about as generic as is possible for a reindeer calf – very average size and shape antlers, along with being very much the ‘normal’ body colour. Difficult to tell one from t’other, looking like this!

Macchiato, aged 4 months

So I thought I’d show some of the antler shapes of calves over the years in this blog. The memorable ones tend to be the biggest ones, of which the outright winner – by a country mile – is Gandalf. However, he was born in Sweden, and many of the Swedish calves we’ve imported over the years (to increase our genetic diversity within the herd) have had very big antlers so maybe he should be disqualified my list…

But here’s a photo of Gandalf anyway. Compare those antlers to Macchiato’s in the photo above!

So… my winner for sheer height of antler is Jester, who definitely looked a bit out of proportion as a calf. He’s gone on to grow enormous adult antlers too, though tending towards wider rather than tall.

Jester.

Some calves have really complex antlers – not quite as tall as Jester’s but more elaborate with several points on each. Examples include:

Murray, born in 2012. Look at that headgear!
Christie (antlers still in velvet here) – exceptional as she is female. As an adult she’s gone on to have very big antlers each year, a family trait inherited from mum Caddis and granny Haze.
Cream – these calf antlers always reminded me of water divining rods!

Duke gets a bonus point for having a forward-pointing tine at the base of one of his calf antlers – perfectly normal in an adult reindeer, but rare in a calf.

Duke.

Whilst not the biggest calf antlers ever, Fez wins my ‘prettiest’ antlers award. Small and perfectly formed, with several points top and bottom. Beautiful!

Beautiful in antler – and face!

But sometimes, it all goes wrong. Calf antlers, being thinner than adult antlers, are easily broken, especially as adult reindeer show no love whatsoever for anyone else’s offspring other than their own, and are all too willing to whack a calf on the head with a hoof should they get in their way. This results in antlers breaking, and this happens whilst the antler is still growing, they will sometimes fuse at the break and the calf is left with a flopped-over broken point.

One of this year’s calves, Lochi, with the classic ‘been-walloped-on-the-head-by-a-hoof’ look.

If this happens early enough in the season, the antler will, once the break is fused and healed, start to grow upright once again from the break. Here’s Fava below, who had managed to break his right hand antler not once but twice, resulting in two downward pointing bits. His antler shows a centimetre of new, upward growth from the break – and then he ran out of time to grow any more!

Fava.
Hopscotch.

Antlers broken right at the base can cause a problem with obscuring vision, poor Hopscotch here had to have this disaster (above) sawn off once it had lost all feeling in the autumn, so she could see where she was going!

And sometimes, it all just goes terribly, terribly wrong…

Poor Heinz! Two broken antlers, bound in place to keep them as still as possible, waiting for the vet to arrive.
Holy Moley.

Holy Moley’s broken antler resulted in a shaved head after the vet had to remove the broken bit right at the base to prevent further damage. Some of you might remember watching her story on our Channel 4 documentary in 2020!

Hen

Posted on

Christie

Now and again it’s nice to do a blog about specific reindeer, either as a way of getting their name out there because maybe they aren’t so well known or maybe they are well known and it’s a nice way to highlight how important they have been within our herd over the years. I think Christie is pretty well known and certainly not a background reindeer. She has been a great ambassador for a family of reindeer within our herd who have always been prominent.

Her mother was Caddis who was a great big female reindeer. Christie was born in 2017 and her younger brother is Sherlock, who I’m sure lots of you have heard of. Christie was the biggest of her year in 2017 and she grew an amazing set of calf antlers with numerous points. Calf antlers usually just go straight up like twigs. She also has a beautiful speckled white face and when she’s in her summer coat going into the autumn she looks at her absolute best!

Christie as a new born calf with her mum Caddis looking over her.
Caddis in the foreground with Christie behind as a calf – early 2018.
Christie with her very impressive antlers for a calf, and her mum Caddis having a snooze together on a beautiful winter’s day.
One year old Christie with her second set of antlers in September 2018 – you can just see she’s beginning to strip the velvet.

She started breeding at 3 years old so had her first calf in 2020. Unfortunately, she lost that calf while out on the summer free range. We never knew what happened, but she went on to have five great big sons thereafter! Akubra (born in 2021), Gelato (2022), Colorado (2023), Espresso (2024) and this spring Haka (2025).

She’s certainly got a name for herself raising some of our biggest male calves each year but also coming in herself with great big antlers and in cracking condition. We do try to give cows a year off from breeding, but Christie keeps delivering the goods. Maybe next year! Sadly, we lost Gelato suddenly this summer after a digestive illness, but he won’t be forgotten – his brothers look very similar to him!

Christie and Akubra – May 2021.
Christie and Gelato – December 2022.
Christie and Colorado – 2023.
Christie and Espresso – 2024.
Christie with newest member of the family – Haka. Still suckling in the snow! November 2025.

Once upon a time I’d say she was quite a shy reindeer so it’s taken a few years to really get to know her properly. Her mother was so tame and bold as well as extremely greedy. I’d say Christie enjoys her food but would never be pushy for it. Sherlock, her brother, certainly followed their mothers footsteps in being extremely greedy and pushy at feeding time. It’s funny how different they can be even though they are closely related.

Christie’s gorgeous freckly nose in her summer coat.
Christie’s younger brother Sherlock (in August 2023) – a well-known member of the herd.

Christie is 8 years old now and one of our lovely mature females in the herd. We’re looking forward to the next few years and hopefully she can retire gracefully in the not too distant future! It would be great if she has a female calf in the next few years and the legacy is continued as she’s certainly done her mother proud!

Fiona

Posted on

Photo Blog: November 2025

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!

Ruth

Posted on

Photo Blog: October 2025

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.

Ruth

Posted on

Photo Blog: September 2025

September is a beautiful time of year. We’ve had the first snow on the plateau and lovely autumnal sunny days. The odd soggy day too, of course! The reindeer look fantastic with fully grown antlers and fresh winter coats growing through.

We’ve been doing lots of free range missions to bring in the cows and their calves which is always fun. The bulls and cows have been stripping the velvet and getting a wee bit more feisty and hormonal in preparation for the upcoming rut. We split the first bull, Choc-ice, with a small group of girls on the 22nd – exciting times!

The calves have also been given a name but as always we don’t post any names online until our adopters have their newsletters. Maybe by next month’s photo blog!

1st of September: Cheer and her daughter Chai in the background.
1st of September: The time of year when the bulls start stripping the velvet. Here is two-year-old Limpopo looking very handsome.
3rd of September: Emmental and her calf back in the enclosure after a summer of free ranging.
3rd of September: A family portrait! Irish, his wee sister, and his mum, Helsinki. Since Helsinki has been back in our enclosure, one-year-old Irish has become rather attached to his mum again! Helsinki is very tolerant and shares her pile of food with her teenage son.
4th of September: Bordeaux and her son. These two didn’t come in for their breakfast so I got a lovely walk up Silver Mount to find them and return them to the herd. Both were completely fine and clearly just having a lie-in.
4th of September: Elbe, a twin, is looking phenomenal! He’s two years old and has a really lovely nature! We’re all very fond of him.
4th of September: Peanut’s male calf is looking great and is already quite tame.
4th of September: Two freckly white noses trying to get into the hand feed bag. Sundae on the left and Beanie on the right.
9th of September: The calves in the enclosure have quickly learnt what’s in the bags! They get allowed to feed directly from the bags which encourages them to be tamer and so they can get some extra mouthfuls without a bigger reindeer stealing it from them. Zoom and Choc-ice are circling the bags like piranhas!
10th of September: One of our gorgeous calves. This wee one belongs to Hopscotch.
10th of September: Glacée and her daughter. She’s done so well as a first time mum!
11th of September: Lotti and Kate feeding the herd.
11th of September: Moving some of our free rangers from outside the cafe on Cairngorm Mountain! Sunflower, Fika and Solero are the three closest to camera. Fika and Solero are stripping the velvet from their antlers.
15th of September: Old girl Ryvita on a very soggy day. She’s now back out free ranging but came into the enclosure for a few days for a health check and vaccination. She’s looking great for 16!
16th of September: Brie posing beautifully on a lovely autumnal morning.
16th of September: The calves are allowed to feed from the bags before we put it out on the ground for everyone else. You can see the older reindeer lurking around the edge and Cameron and Kate on guard duty!
17th of September: Amazon is now two years old. Her mum Dante is just behind.
17th of September: Christie has done it again! She looks phenomenal and has produced yet another lovely, chilled-out wee dude!
18th of September: Jimmy looking very handsome.
22nd of September: Winnie looking gorgeous in the beautiful autumnal light! She was hand reared in 2023 and has come back into the hill enclosure after almost a year out free ranging looking amazing!
23rd of September: Morven and her calf. Both have ridiculous antlers!
24th of September: Marple and calf. Her calf has turned into a greedy food monster!
26th of September: After a week in our Paddocks Dr Seuss is now back in the hill enclosure ready for the 11am Hill Trip and hand feeding!

Ruth

Posted on

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s visit in September 2024

The September visit was very special. We were lucky enough to attend Fiona and Joe’s wedding and celebrations. They got married on top of Meall a’ Bhuachaille, the hill behind Reindeer House. It was a very wet and windy day but it was so special being on top with Fiona, Joe and everyone and the dogs and to see them get married. A person was playing the bagpipes too which was very magical. We all went to the Pine Marten Bar afterwards for some food, drink and dancing. Then there was a fantastic weekend of celebrations at Badaguish involving a second wedding ceremony and wedding photos and of course reindeer. The reindeer who attended were Busby, Magnum, Hemp and Dr Seuss. The weather was so lovely and there were lots of sunshine. The other celebrations included a ceilidh, Highland games, fun run, a loch swim in Loch Morlich, where I paddled this time, and lots of music, food and drink. It was so lovely seeing everyone and it was very being special being part of the really fantastic wedding celebrations.

Fiona and Joe on a very soggy but utterly beautiful wedding day.
Fiona and Joe with Busby, Hemp and Dr Seuss!

I was very lucky enough to be invited to attend the naming meeting of the calves. I sat around the table in the kitchen of Reindeer House with my herding friends and had tea and cake with them whilst they decided on the names of the new calves the theme this year being Teas and Coffees.

The calves had grown so much since I had last seen them in May. They had just come into the hill enclosure from the free range with their mums. They were much bigger and braver. Helsinki’s premature calf was doing so well. His name is Irish after Irish coffee.

Latte (Brie’s calf) and Emm!

So much had changed in the new Reindeer Centre building. Tilly with her grandchildren gave me a tour of the new Centre. The stairs had been put in and the walls plastered. Sinks, pipes and the boiler had been put in. It looked so amazing. It is slowly getting there and is so exciting. It will be brilliant. We went outside to see where the reindeer Paddocks will be.

One morning, Poirot and Mivvi were outside the hill enclosure entrance gate. They had got out of the enclosure somehow. They were put back in and Isla walked around the fence line of the whole hill enclosure to see where they had got out. The fence line is 8km and the hill enclosure is 1,200 acres. She found out that someone had left the gate open down in the woods near Utsi’s hut so she shut it. 

Emm and Mivvi.

I had a big surprise one morning on the Hill Trip, as I got out the reindeer van in the carpark and a lady came over to me and I realised it was a lovely lady from our local art shop where I am from. She was with her husband and they were on their honeymoon. They were so surprised to see me as they didn’t know I was up and thought I would be up later in the year. They were visiting because of me as I often go into their art shop back and show her and her colleagues my reindeer photos and tell them all about the reindeer and they got very interested. It was such a lovely surprise to see her and her husband and it was so brilliant taking them up to see the reindeer. That was such a special day.

I had time to chill and enjoy the reindeer which I really find special. One day after a morning Hill Trip, the reindeer were lying down in groups. They were chilling, dozing or asleep. One of the calves, Irish, was twitching in his sleep and his eyes were rolling. Hemp was asleep and snoring. I went around taking photos and selfies and Caterpillar was following me as I had the hand feed bag. She tended to follow me during Hill Trips because of the hand feed bag and because she is a shy reindeer we had been giving her hand feed out of the bag after the Hill Trips to get used to being handled. One day after another Hill Trip, Silk and Suebi from the free range turned up outside the hill enclosure fence. They followed Ruth and Lotti, who had a food bag, into the hill enclosure. They had been trying to get Silk into the hill enclosure for a wee while with little success as she is a very shy reindeer so everyone was really pleased she came into the hill enclosure.

Emm and a bunch of snoozy reindeer, including Morse with those whopping antlers behind.
Christie and Espresso having a nap.

I got to help again treat some poorly reindeer when Pumpkin’s calf, called Lapsang, had been lying flat out on the hill trip. We took her temperature and it was very high. I held onto Pumpkin, who was on a head collar, whilst Ruth and Isla were dealing with Lapsang as Pumpkin was a protective mum. Most reindeer are not protective but Pumpkin was but Ruth was able to give Lapsang an injection to bring down the temperature and Isla led them both to the shed in the hill enclosure where to keep an eye on them.

At the end of my stay my herder friends surprised me by bringing Scully my adopted reindeer down from the hill. I was so pleased to see her. They had gone out to get Florence and her calf Cuppa off the free range there and bring them back to the hill enclosure to start getting Cuppa used to people and being handled. They also brought four more reindeer back including Scully which was so special. This was at the end of the day on my last working day so the next morning I went up on the morning Hill Trip to see Scully which was so brilliant. I got to hand feed her and Ruth took lovely photos of me with her.  

Scully and Emm on the last day of Emm’s stay.

So, I have shared with you some of the memorable highlights of 2024 being with the reindeer and my herder friends. It was such a special time as always. I am really looking forward to being with the reindeer in 2025 with my first visit in February. I am so excited and am counting down the days till my next visit.

Emm and Dr Seuss.

Emm

Posted on

Maisy’s Favourite Photos

I (Maisy) have been helping out with the reindeer here and there since March 2024. I am now working on weekends and during my school holidays to my delight. I have started to spend a lot more of my time up at the Centre whether it’s because of reindeer, the people and the dogs, it’s just such a welcoming place and I’m very grateful to know them.

Last Christmas I was working quite a bit while being up at Glenmore nearly every weekend in December! This is our busy season for obvious reasons, and it can get quite manic. By the end of December, I think everybody who was working on weekends were really fed up with Christmas songs from hearing the so many times… We were going up the hill in sunshine, rain or snow we just had to wrap up warm and get on with it. At one point I was wearing so many clothes I could hardly move my body it was so cold. Including the wind, it felt like roughly -19 which is pretty cold especially when you’re not moving very fast with your visitors.

My Mum and Dad are friends with Alan and Tilly so when I was younger, we went to the farm to give a hand. One of the only memories I’ve had at the farm when I was little was being in a tractor with my dad and Alan and falling out of it. I have slowly accumulated quite a lot of photos so when Ruth suggested for me to possibly write a blog I obviously said yes.

Magnum in the sun on a really hot day in mid August.
Chai running for food in the enclosure on the 12th of April 2025.
Lisette with Frost and Busby at a Christmas event in Fort William.
Christie snoozing on a gorgeous day in December.
Lolly looking surprised, overlooking Kidney Lochan while free ranging on the 2nd of March.
And of course, can’t miss a dog photo can I. This is Fraoch on the summit of Meall a’ Bhuachaille and it was the best sunset I’ve ever seen! Scotland at its best.
The herd following Lotti in early March heading down Plantation Hill.
Wee Fika last year in the enclosure. She is currently Free ranging with her mum Sunflower.
The herd crossing the Alt Ban on the 9th of March 2025.
Trilby with her calf in front of Meall a’ Bhuachaille in the enclosure being just a few days old on the 11th of May.
The first calf of the year building up his confidence in the enclosure. And also, being super-duper cute!
Me and my dad were out on the hills in May and came across a herd free ranging. This is wonderful Mocha.
This is me and Nuii on the same day who was very interested if we had some spare food going. We sadly did not!
Marple and her calf with the herd after coming off free range. This was taken on the 14th of August 2025.
Zap having a chill time before a busy day with visitors on the 16th of August.

Maisy

Posted on

Reindeer migration

As the seasons change and we transition from spring into summer our female reindeer will start to move from the lower grounds where they have spent most of the winter, higher onto the hills. This is partly to stay cool as the weather will warm up but also to follow the grazing. In the middle of the winter there will be more snow higher on the hills, meaning further for the reindeer to dig but in the summer the tops of the hills are where the best grazing is.

Waving the cows and calves off to spend the summer free-ranging.

For our reindeer this migration may be only a few miles but across the world, reindeer and caribou (which are genetically the same as reindeer but haven’t been domesticated) migrate long distances. In fact, caribou hold the record for the longest land migration of any animal, migrating a whopping 2,000 miles between their summer and winter-feeding grounds. The equivalent records are held by the humpback whale with the longest migration through water of 5,000 miles and the arctic tern with the longest migration through the air with a mind boggling 18,000 miles.

Long Distance Migration (Varpe and Bauer).
Arctic Tern.
Humpback.

2,000 miles is still an incredibly long way and takes the caribou first to their spring calving grounds near the coast. The spring calving grounds are highly fertile, providing lots of food for the new mums and free of predators, which is important as the young are born. This sounds like the ideal location to spend the summer and perhaps it would be if it wasn’t for the swarms of mosquitoes that arrive at the start of the summer. These mosquitoes, as well as the warmer weather, drive the caribou to migrate higher onto the hills. They spend the summer grazing on a plethora of different plants and lichens. Summer is a time of abundance in the arctic and sub-arctic regions.

Lace and Ryvita free ranging in the Cairngorms.

With long hours of light, the plants grow quickly, and the reindeer will graze on over 200 different species. This allows the reindeer calves to grow quickly, before the winter. It also allows bulls, cows and calves to all grow a set of antlers. The antlers grow over roughly 5 months and can reach a massive size. The largest set we’ve had in our herd weighed 8.9kg for the pair. It is also important that reindeer gain weight in the summer in order to survive the harsh winter.

Christie’s calf, Espresso, Christie and Borlotti enjoying the best of the summer grazing on the plateau.
Glacée and Dante looking fantastic at the end of a summer of free-ranging.

As autumn approaches the reindeer will migrate yet again. As the temperature drops, there will be less to eat high on the hills so the reindeer will move to the lower hills in search of better grazing. It is also the time of year that the mushrooms emerge so many of the reindeer will come into the edge of the woodland to forage mushrooms. They eat many varieties, but the boletus family are their favourite.

In our herd the female reindeer spend the summer months free-ranging and the males spend it in our hill enclosure. This means there is another drive for the females to come to the lower slopes and into the hill enclosure, the boys! The cows know that the rut is held in our hill enclosure each year so when their hormones tell them it’s time to find a mate, they know where to come!

Dante munching on a mushroom.

The migration of the Cairngorm reindeer may be much smaller than reindeer and caribou elsewhere, but it is equally important. It allows the reindeer to move to the best location for each season, following where the best food and climate is.   

Lotti

Posted on

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s visit in May 2024

My May Highlights

We returned in May and it was the calving season (Emm’s blog about her February visit can be found by clicking here). The calves are so cute and come in different colours which were silvery, dark brown, normal coloured, and ginger. They are so small and it was so lovely seeing the reindeer being mums to their calves. Some of the mums and younger calves were in the bottom corridor in the hill enclosure which we call the nursery. The mums and older calves were with the main reindeer herd in the main bit of the enclosure. It was so lovely seeing the calves suckling from their mums. Sometimes the mum would lick its tail or bum to encourage the calf to suckle. I saw calves nibbling on their mum ears. The calves would run often over to their mums grunting or the mums would run over to their calves grunting. Reindeer are normally quiet animals apart from calving time and rutting time and it was lovely to see them communicate. My first time handling a calf was when I held Feta’s calf whilst Hen took the calf’s temperature. Most of the reindeer are ok with you going near their calves but Brie was very protective of her calf so we had to be careful around her and her calf.

Emm holding Feta’s calf who we later named Earl Grey as has turned into one of the biggest calves of 2024.

Helsinki’s calf was premature and was so tiny so we kept them by the shed in the hill enclosure so we could keep an eye on them. We went to check them several times a day and were encouraging the calf to suckle. We bottle fed the calf with goat’s milk as Helsinki didn’t have much milk to begin with. Later on in the week, Helsinki and her calf joined the other mums and calves in the nursery as she was producing more milk and the calf was suckling on its own. The calf got much stronger and was doing so well.

Helsinki and her wee boy, who we later named Irish. Despite a rocky start to life Irish is doing well and has grown into a very tame and laid-back fella!

When reindeer are about to give birth, they tend to go away from the herd and find a high place as they are very private animals when giving birth. One day, Christie was missing from the main herd. Lisette went to find her and found Christie with her newborn calf. Later that day Cassie and Amy went to get Christie and her newborn calf and to take them to the nursery.

Lisette’s photo of Christie and new-born Espresso!

During our visit there was a fundraising scheme launched to raise money towards the new Centre. I decided to help support it by taking a swim in Loch Morlich.  I am not an outdoor swimming person as I hate cold water. I am more a hot tub person! So, it was big challenge for me to swim in the loch. It was very cold as the water was still coming from snow patches from the Cairngorms. It was very special day as my herding friends, who love outdoor swimming, came and supported me and Tilly and her grandchildren joined in. Even the herder’s dogs joined in too and with everyone’s encouragement I raised £1000 for the new Reindeer Centre. We went for a drink and a meal afterwards at The Pine Marten Bar to warm up and celebrate.

Emm with the hat on and the herders in the loch. Go Emm!!

Following on from my visit in February I went again to Tilly’s farm with Amy. We helped take temperatures and the younger reindeer had an injection to help stop ticks. I was in charge of putting reindeer on head collars and holding them and was able to catch up with some of the reindeer. Winnie and Alba, two hand-reared reindeer who had just turned one year old, looked really well. Also, Elbe (Alba’s twin) who was looking really well too. We took seven reindeer back to the hill enclosure from the farm, Clouseau, Olmec, Aztec, Frost, Zoom, Zap and 99. Tilly tied Aztec and Clouseau the older boys to her quad bike whilst she drove slowly down with them following the quad bike very nicely. We led them down the hill to “Brenda” the reindeer truck. We went back and with help we took the seven reindeer up to the hill enclosure. I led Zoom and Olmec up to the hill enclosure.

One day Vanilla, who is leucistic (white), had a hoof trim. It was interesting to find out that leucistic reindeer hooves grow faster than a normal coloured reindeer. Leucistic reindeer are white, have blue eyes and sometimes are born deaf.

The building of the new Reindeer Centre was going well when I was there. At the beginning of the week, Tilly and Cameron gave me a tour of the new building which was just the walls going up. At the end of my stay Tilly gave me with Ann and Sheena another tour and the change in just a week was so amazing. The roof was on and the first floor in. It seemed to be going up very quickly.

The roof going on!

One morning during the breakfast feed for the reindeer, we did a mock filming session. People who can’t get up the hill to see the reindeer will be able to experience a reindeer hill visit through a film at the new Reindeer Centre in the exhibition. We walked to the reindeer, fed the reindeer, counted them and chilled with them whilst being filmed for a practice run.

Emm

Posted on

Photo Blog: March 2025

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!

3rd of March: Chai is such a cutie, and she knows it!
3rd of March: Two girls with big antlers! Mangetout (born 2020) has the biggest set of antlers compared to the females in her year group and Pukka (born 2024) has the biggest out of hers, including the boys!
4th of March: Fiona, Lotti and I walked three cows and their calves up the hill to join the free ranging herd we have here on Cairngorm. Previously they’d been free ranging at our second winter site. Feta and Earl Grey, Beanie and Coffee, and Christie and Espresso.
5th of March: We’re so proud of these two! Alba at the front and Winnie behind. Both hand-reared in 2023 and now proper free-roaming reindeer! Go girls.
12th of February: Snow! And Cuppa’s awesome eyebrows.
12th of March: The top of Ryvita’s head. She’s usually the first cow to start growing her antlers.
13th of March: Winter has returned. Sundae looking particularly beautiful!
13th of March: Zambezi and the herd on their way in for breakfast.
13th of March: Winnie and Cameron.
14th of March: Torch making sure Cappuccino is looking good for our visitors.
17th of March: Shannon on St. Patrick’s Day. Shannon was named by herder Amy after the river in Ireland.
17th of March: Ryvita up to her usual tricks! She’s an old girl so I may have allowed this for longer than I would have if it was somebody younger!
18th of March: Trilby leading the herd on a beautiful day.
19th of March: Another old girl enjoying our backpacks – this is Oatcake.
21st of March: Amy and I went over to our second site to help Tilly which was very fun! We got to see all the male reindeer including this greedy chap – Aztec!
21st of March: Spartan looking very handsome and enjoying free ranging. He’s just beginning to grow a new set of antlers.
22nd of March: Peanut is a beautiful reindeer. She’ll turn 5 in the spring and is relatively shy in nature but very sweet!
22nd of March: Zambezi wondering if I’ve got any food!
23rd of March: Sunflower and Fika being very sweet!
25th of March: Christie cast her anlters a couple of weeks ago but still looks gorgeous. Her new antlers will begin to grow before too long.
27th of March: 10 month old Coffee leading the herd this morning. He’s a very confident chap!

Ruth

Book Now