Reindeer are totally covered in their thick winter coat at the moment. Here Caterpillar is showing us how hairy even the insides of her nose and ears are, leaving nothing to get frost bitten! ❄️
The beautiful Mushy! She's a lovely lass, rather reserved in character but growing in confidence with time. She's in excellent condition and will be kept warm over the winter by that gorgeous coat of hers as she spends the rest of the winter free roaming in the hills ❄
This is the lovely Fern! She's 16 years old which makes her one of the oldest reindeer in our herd. Now that she's well and truly retired from breeding she spends most of her days out free ranging in the hills. She's a friendly lass and it's always an absolute joy to see her 🤩
This is Morven! With no new calf at her side this year, she has remained closely bonded to her yearling daughter Mochi. The pair of them are enjoying free ranging in the hills together and will most likely spend all summer out. Lucky lasses!
This is Beanie! She is often found at the back of the herd, so each morning when two herders head up the hill to locate and move the reindeer into a suitable location for our Hill Trip she provides excellent company for whichever herder is at the back of the group 😍
Well we got a white Christmas in the end! Tomorrow looks more 'whiteout' than just 'white' though... 🌨💨
Here's some of the free-ranging group of reindeer first thing this morning - Sundae, old girl Ibex, Pumpkin, Pavlova and Vanilla.
Here's 11-year-old Cheer with her calf Shannon! Shannon gets her name from the river in Ireland, in keeping with our 'Rivers of the World' theme for this year's calves! 🇮🇪
Great photo taken by herder Emily-Kate of Spartan, one of our very handsome bulls. Spartan is in great condition and is a strong contender for fattest reindeer in the herd just now! An excellent title to have for a reindeer at this time of the year! 🏆
Okapi has come into the enclosure recently for a short spell and is always delighted when we appear with a green bag of feed! It's all cupboard love in this case I'm afraid! 😜
Herders Ruth and Cameron bringing Cornetto, Kulfi and Iskrem off the hill this morning! The snow is here to stay so if you're coming on a Hill Trip over the next few days please make sure you meet the clothing and footwear requirements... Brrrr! ❄️❄️❄️
We are at the start of moulting reindeer season! Some of the boys, like Kiruna here, are ahead of the game and are already looking particularly scruffy. But with his lovely velvet antlers we think he's still very handsome, despite being a little on the unkempt side!
It's been very wet and windy here for the last week so Scully is here to remind everyone coming to visit us to bring full waterproofs (jackets and trousers), lots of warm layers, hats, gloves and waterproof footwear! 🌧💨
This wee toot was found yesterday morning to start our 2023 calving season. Both mother and calf are happy and healthy and enjoying some well earned rest. 🥳
We don't release the names of the mothers of our calves until after we've let our adopters know in the June newsletter.
Mochi & Sundae were born in May 2022 and are growing into lovely young lassies. Mochi is one of the smallest of her year but is very greedy and often tries to sneak into a feed bag! Sundae has cast her antlers already but is still very photogenic with her beautiful white nose.
Joe and an unruly bunch of calves! Each morning we give the calves a wee bit of extra food, directly from the bag. Whilst they tussle for their place, we must defend the bags from the older reindeer, keep the bags open between their kicking feet & dodge those pointy calf antlers!
Mississippi here is certainly not camera shy. In fact some of our tamer reindeer can be a little difficult to photograph as they come *too* close to the camera!📷
Florence is one of our young females, she's from quite a shy family of reindeer but is getting more confident with age! Today she was very keen to say hi to the camera 📷
Olmec and Clouseau were out and about on Christmas events at the weekend. Both were brilliant! They were back on the hill yesterday evening and here they are this morning, patiently waiting for their breakfast to be delivered 😍
Here's 6.5-month-old Zambezi and her mum Hopscotch enjoying the snow a couple of days ago. Hopscotch is a very tame and friendly lass so we’re hoping she’ll pass on these lovely traits to Zambezi. She's certainly inherited her mum's love of food!
Oatcake will turn 15 this May, she's one of the older members of the herd but it hasn't stopped her growing a beautiful set of antlers, and a majestic beard too. 🤩
This is the lovely Peanut on a rather wet and wild day! She's a pretty lass with a very sweet nature. She's still relatively shy but is becoming more confident with time 😍
Okapi is over fifteen years old but she's still in great condition and has grown another cracking set of antlers. She spends most of her time out free-ranging but occasionally comes into the enclosure for some extra feed. What a star!! 🌟
After a rainy few days here in the Cairngorms, we're all pretty delighted for some sun! Here is Hopscotch's five month old calf, basking in some autumn sunshine. ☀️
Lupin looking very smart this morning in his sleek and very dark summer coat. Apologies to Cicero in the background - not the best camera angle for him!
Merida is one of our most distinctive reindeer with her hourglass white face markings. She's currently out roaming in the hills enjoying a peaceful winter. She's a mature breeding female and has produced some very distinctive sons inc Dr Seuss, Arta, and pure white Mr Whippy!
Winnie must be one of our most featured reindeer on social media! But can you blame us when she is this gorgeous? 🤩 (note: this photo was taken on a sunny day last week - it's much rainier today!)
Beautiful Okapi is one of our older girls, fast approaching 15-years-old. She's currently in the free ranging herd that we're taking our visitors to each day, so she's enjoying the extra food and being greatly admired! And we're loving her company too! 😍
Father and son, Spartan and Haricot, both growing beautiful antlers and are in great condition. Spartan is responsible for several white-nosed reindeer in the herd! 🤩
Some of our lovely free ranging girls earlier today! From left to right we have Tap, Oatcake (just in view behind Tap), Lolly, Vanilla, Sambar, Mochi (in the background), Sorbet and Solero.
This wee lass is 2 weeks old tomorrow! Both mum & calf are doing really well and are enjoying the spring weather. It won't be too long until the pair are roaming freely in the hills for the summer, but her mum has at least another week of free meals in the hill enclosure first!☀
Handsome bull Sherlock looking rather EPIC earlier today! 🤩 (The calves in the background are our wee hand-reared girls, Winnie and Alba, who are also doing well!)
Holy Moley and her daughter Mississippi having a snooze towards the end of this morning's Hill Trip whilst our lovely visitors wander around them. It's tiring work meeting all her fans and scoffing all that hand feed!️ 🌟
What a lovely bunch of girls out free roaming in the hills, totally in their element! From left to right we have Hobnob, Shannon, Hopscotch, Zambezi and Okapi ❄😍
Meet Poirot and Texel! Poirot is a handsome chap with a laid-back nature and is an excellent sleigh puller. Texel is a friendly lass who loves her food, particularly a white bag of hand feed!
All our calves are now around five months old and it's great to see their individual personalities developing. This little lass is growing in confidence by the day. The antlers in the background belong to her mum, Mangetout!
Here's Hook, a lovely lad who has been rather unnoticed over the years by all our visitors, only ever growing small antlers and therefore not standing out from the crowd.
It's therefore time for him to have his moment in the spotlight on social media! 📷
Here's Danube with her mum Brie and Mekong with her mum Marple wishing you all a very happy Hogmanay! These lovely lassies are currently in our hill enclosure but they’ll be back out free ranging in the hills again very soon. Happy new year to all! 🤩🎉🎊
What a difference a month makes! Here's Kiruna looking amazing - he's now almost lost all of his old winter coat and his antlers have become very impressive. Check out the photo of him posted on the 22nd of May for comparison! 📷
Here's Pinto and her daughter Orinoco. Pinto was a first-time mum last year and has done a super job of rearing her first calf. Orinoco is a very sweet lass and naturally tame. The pair are now back out free roaming in the hills for the rest of the winter 😍
A photo of Dante and her daughter Glacée to end the year! Happy Hogmanay to all! 🎉 Glacée is the oldest calf of 2022 and the pair have had had a super year! Here's to another great year in 2023! 🥳🎉
Caterpillar is one of the shier members of the herd, in this photo she certainly looks a little... surprised. She's now thirteen years old but still grows a cracking set of antlers. Go Caterpillar! 🐛
Most of you will know we name our reindeer using a theme each year. These two lovely lassies are both aged four and were named in our 'European Place Names' theme. On the left is Helsinki and on the right is Florence 😍