Roaming freely since 1952
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.
Andi
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…
Andi
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:
Not bad for a place to live, but where is the snow?!?
Andi
Every year when the cows and calves come off the high tops from the summer one group tend to head towards Glenfeshie, a part of the Cairngorms they aren’t meant to be. We have got good communications with the landowners and gamekeepers over there so they let us know and we head over in the mission to catch them. It is always the same culprits. To name a couple– Fern and Wapiti. You may remember a blog in October of Andi and I recovering Fern from Glenfeshie in the autumn so she must have gone straight back!
Alex is chief free range reindeer herder and knows the hills best over there so he headed out the first few times to catch up with them. Once he knew their location he set up a corral with a few gates in the aim to catch the naughty reindeer. This all happened over the Christmas and New Year period, they like to pick the busy times! Alex went out a few times and fed them which gets them used to the feed again and a bit easier to manage. In the group were three calves who weren’t yet trained so they were fairly timid and didn’t let Alex get very close. But then we got the phone call at Reindeer House from Alex that he had them all in… calves included. Ye-Ha!!!
So Chris and I got everything together and headed off in Brenda (this is the name of our wee livestock truck). Alex was going to start putting halters on them. When we arrived it materialised Alex wasn’t on his own. With Emily (his wife) and two month old son in toe the three of them had caught all the reindeer. Start them young! Being the holiday period the hills were pretty busy with people walking and there were a few dogs around so Emily was on people and dog duty while we walked the reindeer up to the livestock truck. Remember the calves are pretty wild and not halter trained so there was a lot of persuasion going on. Luckily all their mothers are halter trained so they were easy. So in two runs, we walked all 11 reindeer up to the livestock truck and loaded them.
On route we phoned the Centre to get extra pairs of hands to lead them across to our enclosure where they have now been for a week. The calves are getting more and more bold everyday, eating the mixture and now joining in with our daily guided tours. It won’t take long for them to get pretty tame… the great thing about reindeer and thousands of years of domestication means working with humans comes second nature to them. We will halter train them over the next few weeks. Their names are Keats, Blyton and Harper to fit into our 2017 naming theme of poets and authors.
Fiona
Over the summer during a rather (tipsy) evening, us herders got on to the topic of which reindeer would make good plumbers, friends, travel companions etc… It turned out to be illuminating and hilarious, so here are four of us giving our thoughts – hopefully it’ll be an entertaining insight into our beloved reindeer characters!
…go on a round the world trip with?
Abby: Erm…
Hen: It would have to be a northern hemisphere trip because they’d get too hot otherwise.
Abby: I would take a Swede because they’d know the country so you’d get to see local sights.
Hen: Maybe Bovril, but he might get lost. He gets lost on the free-range now sometimes…
Abby: Maybe Hook. He’s quite sweet but I think he feels quite worldly. I like Hook.
Hen: I like Hook. I think maybe Strudel, he loves to see new places!
Abby: You might have a fun holiday with Magnus but he’s a bit lazy.
Hen: It’d be more like a beach holiday with Magnus.
Andi: I think I’d take Gloriana, because she’d friendly, and attractive, and looks a bit different, so you’d meet lots of new people and have interesting conversations.
…be trapped on a desert island with?
Abby: Puddock! No, Strudel. Puddock would be good fun. Wapiti would tell you a lot of tales.
Hen: Somebody fat who I could eat…
Andi: I wonder about somebody ingenious… Houdini, escape artist 🙂
Sarah: Somebody older and sensible who would be entertaining but not annoying… maybe Bumble.
Hen: But you’d have to eat your dinner before her as she’s so greedy…
Sarah: Oh yeah…
…get to be your interior designer?
Hen: Gandi!
Abby: Yea, definitely Gandi!
Hen: If any reindeer is going to know about wallpaper, it’s Gandi.
Andi: Yep, Gandi. Fashion, it’d be Bajaan because he’s very concerned about his appearance.
Hen: Yes he is!
Andi: When Emily took him out on Christmas tour, he got some mud on him and really didn’t like it so Emily had to brush him, which he really enjoyed!
…go camping with?
Hen: I reckon it would have to be a female reindeer. The males are too lazy, they’d expect the tent to be put up, and their dinner made.
Abby: Wapiti. She just likes to wander. I think she’d be quite quiet, maybe too sombre. Merida! She’d be good banter, and useful.
Andi: Lilac, because she’d know all of the best spots to go to.
Sarah: Anster. He’s chilled out and not as lazy as the other males so he’d be useful. He’d also be the sort to enjoy a good ale with.
…least like to get in a fight with?
Hen: Lulu.
Abby: Yep Lulu. Even if you didn’t want to fight, she’d be like, ‘fight.’
Sarah: Parmesan. I just don’t think she’d give up.
Abby: She’d use words.
Andi: Bovril, because he’s just massive.
…like to be your heart surgeon?
Hen: I think the lack of opposable thumbs would worry me.
Andi: Dragonfly, because he’s a thinker. He’s very clever, he thinks things through.
Abby: I think Dragonfly for me might be liable to have a hissy fit halfway through; maybe Topi.
Hen: He’s a bit of a joker at times though…
Abby: I’m really not sure on this one. I think Ryvita and Cheese could be the heart surgeon team, because they’re so in sync with each other. Cheese would be the anaesthetist.
Sarah: I think Spider.
Abby: I’d forgotten about Spider!
Sarah: I think he’d be focused with a flourish.
…trust with a dark secret?
Abby: Shinty because he shies away from other people so he’d be too scared to tell anyone.
Hen: I was going to say an old reliable girl like Cailin but I suspect she’d gossip actually.
Sarah: Maybe Fern, I’m not sure she’d join in with the gossiping.
Abby: I think she’d gossip.
Andi: I’d say maybe Duke, he’s like a loyal hound, eager to please.
…elect as prime minister?
Hen: Ooh.
Abby: Who’s got a good ministerial name… need someone a bit wise.
Hen: Need someone with a bit more sense than our current government.
Andi: Fly. Sensible. A good leader.
Hen: I’d agree, a good leader.
Abby: I’d say maybe Lilac. She’s been around long enough, she’s stern, and she’d get stuff done.
Hen: But does she speak to the people?
Abby: I don’t know. Probably not…
…would be you in a film?
Andi: This could be interesting..
Hen: Ladybird.
Andi: Because she’s small.
Hen: She’s quiet, she doesn’t like to make a fuss about things, she just gets on.
Andi: Okapi.
Abby and Hen: Ooh!
Andi: I love how people are judging here! Friendly, quite sensible. It’s funny how you view yourself! Independent, greedy, a little suspicious at times!
Sarah: Spy? She’s a pretty independent reindeer, knows her own mind, no nonsense, can be stubborn but also fairly willing to do things.
Abby: I think I would be Cheese. She’s a bit frantic at times. And she’s greedy. And she’s needy, she’s with her mum a lot. I don’t like to be alone! Who would Beyonce be?
Andi: Hopper? She’s a bit bolshy and a wee bit of attitude but she’s a really nice character.
…go pubbing with?
Abby: You need like an old man reindeer, like Elvis.
Sarah: Elvis!
Andi: Elvis, yea. Or Paintpot.
Abby: Ooh yea! He’s a bit of a grouchy old man, he’d be like, ‘why’s my favourite beer no longer on tap?’
Hen: Topi. Old lad, good lad, he’d have all the gossip. Or Magnus.
…go clubbing with?
Hen: I don’t know, you’d have to pay me a lot of money to get into a club.
Abby: Fergus! I feel like he’d have a funny, mischievous night. You’d have a disaster of a night but it’d be amazing.
Sarah: Maybe Minute. He’d have the moves but he’d be pretty loyal!
Andi: I’d maybe take Chelsea because I reckon she knows the streets.
Abby: I reckon Chelsea might take me to a strip club…
Hen: She’d get you arrested.
Andi: It’d be a good night!
Sarah