Parmesan - The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

20th November 202020th November 2020

All the colours of the rainbow (Part two)

Following on from my previous blog about reindeer coloration, I thought I’d highlight some of the funky face patterns in our herd today. White face markings are super helpful at aiding us in identification of the reindeer, as they don’t change much throughout the year (or their lives). Though they can be harder to make out when the reindeer are in their late winter coats, as they are less distinct.

Boris with his patchy white face and squiffy nose

Cheer has one of the whitest faces in the herd.

Merida with a white hourglass, followed by her calf Dr Seuss with his striking white face.

Gloriana’s mark makes us think of the Joker!

Wee Hemp has a speckly nose and white spot on his forehead.

In winter, Ochil’s markings are less noticeable.

Spartan looks like he’s dipped his nose in white paint!

Svalbard showing off his white nose and forehead.

Texel has a white face with two darker dots.

Andi

20th March 202019th March 2021

Winter free range days

From January to May, our whole herd are out roaming free on the mountains, enjoying the wintry weather that they’re so well-equipped for. Whilst it can be ridiculously wild at times, on other days it is completely still, with glorious sunshine. I thought it would be nice to put up a selection of photos from the last month or two to give you a taste of our winter days…

Oslo leading the herd over for breakfast.

Glorious views out over Aviemore on a beautiful day.

Camus, Sika, Brie and Bordeaux. Sika’s not sure about what she just ate!

Ochil wondering if the food is ready yet

Okapi has cast the main uprights of her antlers, leaving her looking a bit like a unicorn!

Spider has found a nice pool for an after dinner drink.

Pavlova is easily recognised with her white tuft of hair on her forehead.

Parmesan with her white face marking, and old lass Fonn in the background.

Olympic is always one of the first to see us.

Fonn is the oldest reindeer in the herd, at nearly 17 years old.

Dixie, Fly and Lulu, stalwarts of the herd.

We always give the calves some preferential feeding out of the bags – it keeps their condition up and keeps them tame – here’s Bordeaux, Florence, Athens and Texel enjoying a snack.

Angua and mum Tap. Both are quite shy reindeer but we’ve put lots of effort into feeding them extra feed each day and their confidence has come on in leaps and bounds.

Hen, Lotti and Dave – feeding mission completed!

Andi

18th January 201914th January 2019

Feeding the Free-rangers

With Christmas over and the Centre closed to the public for a month, we have put all of our reindeer out to free-range – the males are on the Cromdale mountains and the females are split between there and the Cairngorm mountains. We don’t necessarily see them every day, but where possible we like to catch up with them, feed them and check everyone’s ok. Here’s some photos from feeding the herd the other day:

The herd approaching – they had come to call from the summit of the mountain just to the left of centre.

We sometimes feed the herd within the top part of our hill enclosure, out of the way of dogs, and leave the gate open for them to leave when they want to.

We always let the calves get “first dibs” and a crowd of impatient mini-reindeer gather round the bags.

We also use a small bag of feed to go round any of the older or skinnier adults to give them a “top up”. Here is Suidhe, a 3-year-old female, having an extra snack.

At nearly 16 years old, Fonn is one of the oldest reindeer in the herd. She still looks great!

11-year-old Meadow is missing the tips of her ears, and looks even stranger now she’s cast her antlers.

Blondie is one of the most recognizable reindeer in the herd.

Little Galilee is very sweet natured. She’s nearly 5 years old but quite small for her age.

Parmesan (with the white nose) and daughter Blyton are still close, even now Blyton is nearly 2 years old.

Not bad for a place to live, but where is the snow?!?

Andi