A Reindeer Wedding

Wedding
Greg and Karen (the happy couple) with Svalbard (left) and Duke (right).

A few weekends ago a selection of our beautiful reindeer were invited to a wedding, with a special request for the lovely Fergus (the wee calf we are currently hand rearing). Along with Fergus we took four of our Christmas reindeer; Moose (an old hand at pulling the sleigh and wearing bells and harness), Svalbard (a rather small and stocky but very handsome reindeer aptly named after the reindeer from the island of Svalbard who are much smaller than their Scottish cousins), Monty and Duke (two of our three year olds who have recently become Christmas reindeer this year and will be trained to pull the sleigh and go out on tour with Father Christmas this winter, both are very handsome reindeer with lovely big antlers).

Wedding
Svalbard, Fiona, Moose, Fergus, Duke, Lotti and Monty eagerly waiting in their bells and harness for the music to finish and the wedding party to arrive.

First we took the boys out of the Brenda (our fondly named livestock lorry) and gave them a good bit of lichen. This bribe allowed us to slip the harness and bells onto the boys, who barely batted an eye lid. Having worn harness for many years Moose was the perfect role model for Svalbard who has only done one Christmas season and Duke and Monty who have never worn bells before but behaved themselves fantastically. Fergus has always followed us like a little lamb and jumped in the back of our van, so I think his nose was a put a bit out of joint when he had to wear a halter and travel in the reindeer lorry with the other reindeer (instead of in with the herders and dogs).

Wedding
Duke, Svalbard, Fergus, Moose and Monty with Greg, Karen and their friends and family.

Once the ceremony was finished the wedding party and guests came out to meet the reindeer, all of them posed fantastically for photos and Fergus charmed everybody with his cheeky personality.

Wedding
Svalbard (left) and Duke (right) posing with ex reindeer herder Zac and his partner Emily.
Wedding
The blushing bride leading Duke for a walk in the woods, with both Greg and Svalbard checking the path behind for any oncoming dogs (other than Fergus the reindeer are not keen on dogs).

 

Wedding
The boys showing off their slightly less photogenic end!

All in all a fantastic afternoon was had by everybody. The boys behaved themselves wonderfully and had a little practice for the madness that is Christmas. I think after a bit of sleigh training for Duke and Monty, they will all be ready in time to pull Santa’s sleigh all over the country. The real question is will we be?

Lotti

Herder Zac – Moving on to Pastures New

Zac with the herd
Zac in his element

Zac initially came to work here when he was fulfilling his high school work experience week in September 2010. When he turned up, all 6’8” of him, we couldn’t quite believe the height of this 15 year old… of course going through our minds was ‘great, think how much feed he can carry up the hill!!!’ On his very first day, Zac was certainly keen and a hard worker so fitted in well to the Reindeer Centre team. It was the rutting season and during our guided tour Zac became a bit more acquainted with Grunter (our two and a half year old hand-reared bull with LOTS of character!) than he would have liked, as Grunter managed to mount poor Zac and, even at his height, Grunter got both hooves on each shoulder and did manage to leave him with a wee cut behind his ear… Oops, sorry, don’t tell the school!!! Needless to say this didn’t put Zac off and he finished his week of work experience with us – in fact we liked him so much we offered him a weekend job which he was delighted about.

3yo Zac
Starting our herders young… Zac visiting the reindeer at the tender age of 3

Over the past 4.5 years, Zac has been an absolute star. He is hard working, trustworthy, and going by our visitors’ reviews gives the best guided tours out of all of us. He is great with the reindeer and although he does tower over them slightly they are always very settled in his company. His quiet nature and calmness is the perfect behaviour around the reindeer. He has been with us through thick and thin, through the depths of winter and heights of summer and has even managed to survive the time of year that tests us all… Christmas!!! He has seen reindeer come and go and I think is still the only herder to have a reindeer calve on their guided tour. A lot of us herders rarely get to see a reindeer give birth at all, let alone for it to happen on a guided tour! Dixie decided that day that wandering away from the herd to calve would mean she missed out on hand feeding so why not kill two birds with one stone and have the calf on the visit so hand feeding was still an option!

Reindeer one-sies
Trying to be reindeer – Zac and Ben showing off their reindeer onesies!

He may have been lucky that time, but calving isn’t necessarily Zac’s favourite time of year as in 2014 we all took part in a sweep stake: which reindeer would calve first! Whoever lost had to swim in the loch, which in May is pretty much just snow melt… very, very cold!!! Zac chose Oatcake, a 5 year old female, who not only calved last out of all the chosen females, but calved last out of the whole herd, so it was time for Zac to dig out his swimming shorts. He was a good sport though and completed the forfeit with a smile on his face.

Sleigh training
Sleigh training – the Pattison family catching a ride whilst Zac acts as the “brake”

We will all miss Zac a lot and he has certainly left a hole in our weekends. The dogs are definitely going to miss him too as when Mardi (Zac’s mum) picks him up after work she comes with dog treats which have been known to include roast beef… The dogs become completely devoted to her when she is here and we get no sense from them at all! We wish him all the best in his future which I’m sure will include many great adventures along the way. He is a gentle giant who has left a great big footprint at Reindeer House which I am hoping one day he will fill again, even if it’s to visit or pick up the odd bit of work – he knows he is always welcome… Once a reindeer herder, always a reindeer herder!!!

Fiona

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