The last photo blog of the year! I’ve actually been rather rubbish at taking photos this month as it’s just been so busy (and rather dark with the shortest days of the year) but here’s a wee look at some of the pics I’ve taken on my phone over the past few weeks.
Christmas events went well with teams making us all very proud. Hill Trips have been mostly sold old for weeks (well done if you got tickets) and Christmas Fun was mostly sold out too – it’s been great to see so many people enjoying the brand-new Exhibition and folks getting to meet Santa! Meanwhile up on the hill the reindeer have all been well and unaware of the slight frazzled state of the herders down at the Centre.
Enjoy the photos and Merry Christmas! A big thank you to all who have read the blog over the last 12 months.
4th of December: Brie is having a wonderful end to 2025 free ranging in the hills.4th of December: Another reindeer from the ‘Cheese’ year! Feta is also having a wonderful time out free ranging. She’s grown a cracking set of antlers this year.5th of December: Ceilidh coming over to see if there is any spare food for her.6th of December: Santa is here!9th of December: Tub on a very soggy day.10th of December: Moving the free ranging herd – easiest way to get them to where we wanted was just to walk up the road! Old girl Ryvita leading the way.13th of December: The ‘Christmas Fun’ team for the day – Sherlock, Stenoa, Bond, Charleston and Quickstep.14th of December: Leading a team of reindeer off the hill ready for their event at Landmark – Lupin and Magnum at the front.15th of December: Ballet and Sorbet.15th of December: These boys have all been superstars on Christmas events this season – Jester, Busby and Dr Seuss. 16th of December: Disco and her beautiful mum Dante.16th of December: Lochi and Beanie. 16th of December: Marple and her son Mosh. He’s such a cheeky wee thing!19th of December: The herd coming in for their breakfast. 23rd of December: Lochi being all cute. 23rd of December: Salsa lying down after a Hill Trip.23rd of December: The handsome Zoom.
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.
I’ve worked with the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd as cover staff since 2019, coming and going, never staying more than a couple of months. This year I finally joined the team as permanent staff, so I wanted to commemorate my little journey to becoming a full-time reindeer herder.
I first encountered the reindeer in April 2018 as a visitor on a Hill Trip. We had the wonderful Sheena as our guide. Standing in the snowy mountains, watching the herd mill around us, I fell completely in love with it all.
Meeting Oatcake on my first visit in 2018.A young Dr Seuss in 2018.
After visiting a few times that summer, I asked about work. The next spring, the team were kind enough to have me along for a trial day. There was just one snag… My partner had just been offered a very exciting job at the opposite end of the country. We relocated from Scotland to the South-West.
I spent the summer of 2019 travelling up and down the length of the country to do cover work with the herd. My standout memory from that summer was a day out on the free-range. A cow with a little calf appeared on the plateau – Hobnob and Minsk.
Minsk on the free-range as a calf, 2019.The herd on the move in the enclosure, 2019.
My plans to return in 2020 were a bust due to Covid, so when 2021 arrived I was desperate to get back. I signed up to a solid two months of work over the summer and ended up living in my tent. It was such a rainy summer, and the old tent slowly accumulated duct tape to keep me dry and cosy. A solid two months of work really helped me build confidence.
Relaxing with Dr Seuss, 2021.Emmental
In 2022 I was completing an ecology qualification and needed a field project. I took a break from herding and spent several weeks researching instead. I surveyed ticks in the enclosure and over at the farm. These parasites are a big issue for the herd due to the diseases they carry. I spent my summer following my GPS unit to random coordinates around the enclosure to conduct my survey, exploring all the secret nooks and crannies.
Lupin inspecting my wind speed metre in 2022.A tick sampling transect on Silver Mount, 2022.
When I arrived in May 2023, I had just missed the birth of the last calf. There was still plenty of calf action though, as we ended up with two hand-reared calves – Winnie and Alba. In early June we walked the cows and calves out onto the free-range. It was such a beautiful evening that I had a bit of a realisation… I really didn’t want to leave. This set the wheels in motion for us to move back to Scotland.
With Winnie and Alba in the woods, 2023.Walking Cows and Calves onto the free-range, June 2023.
April/May 2024 was my first proper calving season, getting out and looking for cows and their new-born calves around the enclosure. I was house hunting in the area on my days off. Slowly, everything fell into place. By September we’d found a house, and I also got my first proper experience of working during the rut. When I left, it was so exciting to think that when I finally returned to Scotland it would be for good.
Catching a calf in 2024.Moving the herd of the free-range, 2024.
2025 kicked off with two big moves! Me and my husband moved cross-country again, and the Reindeer Centre moved into the new building! I came back for some cover work in March, and in April I finally joined as permanent staff. No looking back now!
Moving the herd on a snowy morning, March 2025.Winnie and Alba, all grown up, 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!
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.
June is the scruffy reindeer month! Perhaps, not their most photogenic season but still a wonderful time of year and I still managed to take lots of photos of course to fill the monthly photo blog . The cows and calves are all free ranging in the hills and we have around half our males in our hill enclosure here, growing lovely antlers and meeting our visitors.
1st of June: Elbe still with almost a full winter coat, but you can see the short summer coat around his eyes and on his nose. The ears back look is very common in Elbe’s family. His twin sister Alba also often has the same ears back rather grumpy expression! 3rd of June: Dr Seuss with his pink nose! Every June his old winter coat falls out completely before his summer coat grows through.6th of June: Bond looking majestic! Sadly the very next day he had broken his antler and now looks a little less majestic. 8th of June: No reindeer, but a lovely view from the side of Silver Mount looking down towards Glenmore and Loch Morlich with the lovely cotton grass in the foreground. 9th of June: 99 sporting his yellow sun block!9th of June: The handsome Akubra coming to say hello.11th of June: On a warm day the boys can go back to the gate and cause a bit of a road blockage for our visitors wanting to leave!11th of June: Trying to get a decent photo for social media to announce the arrive of our 2026 calendar. This is me showing Amur his page in the calendar.14th of June: Choc-ice finding a good chin rest for a snooze.14th of June: After a rainy night, Lupin looks incredibly shaggy – his winter coat is coming off in big dreadlocks!14th of June: What a motley crew. From R-L we have 99, Rocket and Dr Seuss. 17th of April: Druid doing his best ‘wooing’ face after the Hill Trip. He’s quite a shy reindeer but after a Hill Trip he comes looking for the white bag and wins the hearts of our visitors!18th of June: Scoop is looking very smart in his short summer coat.18th of June: Busby lying down and looking very handsome after a Hill Trip.19th of June: Harness training with some of our male reindeer. 20th of June: A sunny Hill Trip!25th of June: Butter, one of last year’s breeding bulls, growing a lovely set of antlers. 25th of June: Morse has also been a breeding bull in his day, but is now one of ‘Christmas reindeer’ trained to harness. 26th of June: Ärta looking very scruffy. 26th of June: Paddock swap day! Taking the Paddock boys back up the hill.
February has been a great month as we moved into our NEW Reindeer Centre. We opened the doors to the public on the 8th of February for the very first time – hoorah!
The Hill Trips have been running as normal every day (apart from one where we had to cancel due to wild weather!) and we’ve been taking visitors to the free ranging herd here on Cairngorm. We’ve also had reindeer on display in the Paddocks for the February half-term holidays. The entire herd is now back out free ranging in the hills, split between two locations. I love this time of year – getting out to see the reindeer in their mountain home every day is an absolute privilege.
Here’s a selection of photos just taken on my phone over the last month.
7th of February: Feeding the herd with Sheena and Hen, look at that lovely blue sky. We took four reindeer down off the hill and into our Paddocks where they stayed for a few days for the start of the February half-term.8th of February: A big occasion – Tilly cutting the red ribbon opening our brand-new Reindeer Centre. 8th of February: Helsinki and her son Irish relaxing.11th of February: Gorgeous Fern! The oldest reindeer in the entire herd. She’ll turn 18 in the spring and definitely deserves spoiling. You can see the evidence on her nose!11th of February: A lovely pic of Fern and Andi. 12th of February: Moving the herd in to position ready for a Hill Trip. Emmental and Borlotti at the front. 13th of February: Trilby looking beautiful on a sunny day!14th of February: Holy Moley posing for a photo whilst the others eat on the line. On Hill Trips, she often justs waits for the handfeed and doesn’t bother with the food on the ground!14th of February: Vanilla coming in to see if there’s any more food on offer.17th of February: Helsinki and her son Irish… again. They’re a very sweet pair!18th of February: Emmental leading the herd to the Hill Trip location.19th of February: Macchiato and a beautiful sky behind!20th of February: Alba, one of our hand-reared calves from 2023, out free ranging and doing incredibly well! We’re very proud of her!20th of February: Moving ther herd on a very windy and wild day!23rd of February: The Hill trip was cancelleld as the weather was WILD! So here’s a pic from the Paddocks. Dr Seuss looking very relaxed.25th of February: The lovely Winnie, like Alba, she was hand-reared in 2023. 26th of February: Lolly.26th of February: These two are aleays stuck together like glue, Florence and her wee boy Cuppa.27th of February: Latte and her mum Brie.28th of February: Emm at the back of the herd doing a super job getting them moving.
So the newbies to Christmas this year are: Morse, Jelly, Ärta, Akubra, Jester, Busby, Cowboy, Mr Whippy, Gelato, Magnum and Mivvi. They were all trained in Oct/Nov this year to wear harness and pull the sleigh. This is always done alongside a reindeer who is already trained to show them the ropes. Most of them went out on Christmas events as a 5-6 month old calf but these boys have now all been trained to harness and to pull the sleigh so lets hear how they have all got on this season.
One of our Christmas Day parades at the Macdonald Resort in Aviemore! Ärta on the right looking very comfortable being led by an elf! Cuppa, Fika are the calves and the old pro (and Ärta’s big bro) Dr Seuss at the back.
Morse’s antlers are so big we had to train him alongside another Christmas reindeer who either had one antler or no antlers so he could fit. As a result we decided that once he was trained here in Glenmore that on actual Christmas events he wouldn’t pull the sleigh as we didn’t want him to have a bad experience so he just had to follow behind with the others. The last time he did Christmas event was back in 2018 when he was a calf so 6 year ago now, but, he hadn’t forgotten and has been great and looks so, so impressive. We did alter his team to only have 1 calf (usually there are 2) because we didn’t think there would be enough room at the back of the sleigh for two adults and two calves with the sheer size of his antlers.
Morse and Frost during a training session in snowy Glenmore.
Jelly and Ärta are Covid calves. This means they didn’t actually go out on Christmas tour in 2020 so it was a slightly steeper learning curve for them. The training the calves get at 5-6 months old is so valuable come adult hood when they have already seen what it’s all about. But, it’s not to say they can’t, it just takes special handling and picking the correct events for these reindeer to take part in. Both were harness and sleigh trained in Oct/Nov and I’d say Ärta was better than Jelly so we may need extra time for Jelly to get there. Jelly lost his antlers fairly early on in the season so he was just a ‘back reindeer’ behind the sleigh this year. Ärta has pulled the sleigh on a couple of straight-forward parades which weren’t very busy and he’s seems like he’ll be grand in the future. Like I said we just take things a bit slower with reindeer who need that extra training but in a few years time I suspect they will be the ones training the newbies so watch this space!
Ärtaon Christmas Day!Poirot and Busby at the front of the sleigh whilst Ärta learns how to walk nicely at the back of the sleigh – taking it all in his stride.
The 3 year old boys have been absolute superstars this Christmas. Akubra from the day he joined the herd has always proved to be Mr Chill and the others – Cowboy, Busby and Jester aren’t far behind. They have all been out and about pulling the sleigh or walking at the back and it’s looking like we have some cracking ‘Christmas reindeer’ up and coming in these guys. They make us so proud!
Cowboy at the front of the sleigh in Dunkeld (next to old boy Druid). Cowboy was amazing and didn’t put a hoof wrong!Another training session with Ben at the front of the sleigh with Dr Seuss and newbie Akubra, plus Busby at the back.Jester at an event at Landmark, Carrbridge. He did a super job walking at the back of the sleigh.The lovely Busby, also at Landmark. He pulled the sleigh during the parade and was fantastic.Akubra and Busby pulling the sleigh on Christmas Day with Lotti leading. Ärta can be seen in the background.Busby and Akubra pulling the sleigh whilst getting filmed!
Then we have four 2 year olds – Magnum, Mr Whippy, Gelato and Mivvi. We don’t usually geld our reindeer until they are 3 years old (unless we use them as a breeding bull), however, these four were particularly big for their age so we decided gelding them a year early wouldn’t impact their growth. We did train them here in Glenmore to pull the sleigh, which they were great at, we decided that on events if it was a long parade then they would walk at the back rather than put that pressure on a younger body. If it was a short parade with a light Santa then we might give them a go. All four have been so good and taking everything in their stride. Like the boys who are 1 year older they have the making of being a fantastic Christmas reindeer.
Gelato, Irish, Mivvi and Jester on display at Gleneagles Hotel. Magnum pulling the sleigh for the very first time next to Clouseau. Adzuki at the back.Mr Whippy pulling the sleigh for the first time next to Anster. Mivvi on an event at Gleneagles. This was a ‘reindeer only’ event with no sleigh, but great exposure all the same and a lovely place to work!
So there you have it, class of 2024. A real mixed bag but all characters in their own way. When working with them at Christmas time we really get to know them as individuals which only makes that bond and knowledge all the better.
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).
