Day Two

I arrived at the centre this morning expecting to be put to work preparing the visitor centre for opening, but instead I was sent on a different task. Four of us got in the car to drive along the road uphill of the centre, checking it and the car parks found up there for any stray reindeer. The road is a dead end, going up as far as the ski centre, just a few miles away, so it doesn't take long to check. Some of the reindeer are still free-range at this season, and they sometimes like to drift down to the places where humans can be found, in the hope of finding something interesting to eat! Had we found any (which we didn't) we would have had to lure them to a safer location away from cars.

Whilst out in the car, we stopped at the car park nearest the hill enclosure, and walked over with their early morning food supply. (The free range reindeer don't need feeding as there are so many miles of perfect reindeer habitat for them to graze- though this doesn't stop them being interested in easy car-park food!). I have been taught the best carrying technique, which involves lugging the bag up onto your shoulders (trying not to knock your hat off), and keeping a tight grip of the twisted up open end of the sack, so it doesn't all poor out. I found a few grains of food down my neck after one of today's trips- think they must have snuck out through the weave of the sack!

I got a special treat while on this first trip- bottle feeding Starsky, one of the calves. He was one of a pair of twins (any guesses what the other was called?!)- sadly Hutch didn't make it. Their mother, Lulu, had to work hard to feed them both, so they have been bottle feeding Starsky to top up his food supply. Interestingly, Lulu has very small antlers this year (they grow new ones every year)- the mothers put their energy into feeding the young, so their antlers develop much less.

Then we went into the main field to feed the others. We noticed that one of the other calves, Morse, wasn't looking as interested in the food as the others, so it was decided best to check his temperature (via thermometer up his bottom- he seemed to accept this with surprisingly little fuss!). His reading was high, so he received an antibiotic injection, and was left with his mother in a seperate field for a a bit to recuperate.

One of the groups with a breeding bull being led into a visitor-free enclosure at the morning feed, ready for guests to safely walk through.

The calves get first nibbles of the food bags before the remainder is doled out for the other reindeer.

A line of food piles makes it easier to count the reindeer

Then it was back down the road to enroll visitors for the 11am hill walk. I helped with a spot of gift shop restocking, and was delighted to be able to confidently answer a question or two from visitors (where is the car park, when do we drive there etc- not the most complicated reindeer related questions but I felt useful nonetheless!). A lady also came up to me saying that she thought the reindeer had escaped their paddocks in the visitor centre and were on the visitor walkways- so I found an available herder and we went for a look. She was right, they had somehow got out- but they were easily led back in with the help of a bucket of food!

Next, back to the hill enclosure with the 11am group. After the herders put out piles of food for the less social reindeer, I helped dole out handfuls of hand feed to visitors who wanted to feed the reindeer (most of which was mopped up by the same persistant few reindeer, who were ready to munch the second my hand was out of the bag). Surrounded by reindeer and visitors, I've never felt so popular in my life!

I chatted to some of the visitors, and was pleased to be able to answer some of their questions- I suppose the first things I asked on my first visit are the same things many people want to ask first, so my basic knowledge is already becoming useful. It gets harder when people want to know the names of specific reindeer, though I am getting more attuned to antler shapes, and slowly becoming more familiar with the names. Must be difficult to identify them when they finally decide to 'cast' their antlers, before growing next years new set.

After lunch was another around of sleigh training, much like yesterday's session, where I took the time to examine their antler shapes and note down which is which. Slioch reindeer was feeling very agitated with the little calves, and gave one of them a hoof to the side at one point. But other than that they all behaved quite well! This was followed by a final run up the hill to feed them again for the last time of the day (and another bottle of milk for Starsky, yay!) .

sleigh training

My legs are certainly being put to the test this week- and if that wasn't enough, I also climbed a hill behind the centre after work. Four of the herders have been regularly heading up there in training for triathlons- but I thought walking, not running, would be enough for me! So I went ahead with the delightful Sookie, a lovely collie dog who is very gentle and placid, and loves watching sticks in the hope you will throw them- and when a stick is not available, a pine cone. Eventually the runners overtook me, and led the way up the hill. Sookie parted company with me in favour of a faster pace with more familiar people! I had a lovely walk in beautiful fading sunlight, seeing all the mountains in the area. The snow is gone from the tops now, but I'm sure it will be back. It was bitterly cold up top, but well worth the energy and windchill!

Sookie and a ridiculous stick!

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