Shannon and calf say hi!👋 We can't re-open here in Glenmore before Mon 27th at the earliest, but have organised a 'Hill Trip' at our Glenlivet hill farm to see some of the male reindeer. You can book via the website - click on the link in the red update box: www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/hill-trips/

In lieu of having any reindeer close to hand to pose for a photo right now, instead you've got Hen and Andi's cats! Snicket and Squirrel are here to tell you that our shiny NEW 2027 CALENDAR is now available on our website 🥳 store.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/product/cale...

A huge thank you to the co-ordinators of the fire response and to @policescotland.bsky.social for allowing us through the road block yesterday and escorting us to the car park, so we could walk up to check the free-ranging reindeer are getting on ok. They're loving the grazing and getting on well!

CAIRNGORMS WILDFIRE UPDATE: The reindeer who were in the Paddocks/Hill Enclosure have been let out onto the mountains to roam freely - they are not close to the fire and will keep themselves safe. If you have a booking for Thursday, we will keep you up to date via email as the situation progresses.

Getting photos of the reindeer just now with their heads up can be difficult as they spend so much time grazing! During the summer, the reindeer make the most of the rich grazing which allows them to grow a new set of antlers and to put on fat reserves for the winter.

It's been a good season for orchids! They are going over on the hills now, but here's a beautiful Heath Spotted Orchid in the middle of the reindeer's hill enclosure a few days ago 😍

Handsome Choc-Ice on the hill yesterday morning! In 2022 all of our calves were named after different types of Icecream. Along with Choc-Ice we also have Calippo, Cornetto and Magnum (to name just a few). All of those sound pretty appealing just now! 🍦

Charleston is the biggest of our yearlings! 🥳 He was born last year in May and despite being from a pretty wild family of reindeer is a fairly mellow dude! He's the darkest of all our 'dances' and looks just like his mum, Tap!

Scruffy boys relaxing on the hill! Our reindeer are still finishing moulting their winter coats, you can see the last of the pale winter coat and the dark summer coat underneath. Here are Yukon, Kulfi and Adzuki chilling and ruminating after breakfast this morning. 😎

Our calves are now all over a month old and out free-ranging on the hills for the summer. Here are two of them keeping cool on the high tops during the recent heatwave. 😎

During the summer months we do some harness training. This gets them used to the feel of the harness and sound of the bells which is all good training for if they pull a sleigh later on. Here we have Sheena with Kulfi, and Alicia with Limpopo. Tucked behind are Hemp, Busby, Calippo and Macchiato.🥳

Reindeer have very large feet comprising of four toes, helping to spread their weight on snow in the winter and boggy, wet ground in the summer. They can also act like paddles, making reindeer good swimmers if need be!

What a fancy toupée, Cicero! Our reindeer are currently in the thick of the annual moult! It's goodbye to last year's winter coats, and hello to their summer wear. ☀️😎

We made the most of the longest day of the year yesterday by heading out to the hills to see some of the cows and calves who are currently out free-ranging. It's the first time we have seen them since they left our hill enclosure 2 weeks ago and it was amazing to see how much they have changed! 🤩

It's *this* time of year again!!! As ever we've tried to only send one newsletter to couples who adopt two reindeer between them, though kids always get their own post 😉 If we do this wrongly in some way though, please tell us so we can put a note on the database for next time!

Sometimes our reindeer can be a little too friendly! Here is Espresso, who couldn't resist saying hi to the camera yesterday! 🤩 Espresso is currently moulting his winter coat revealing his dark summer coat underneath.

With the spring moult well underway, scruffy reindeer season is upon us! Here is Kulfi looking handsome if a little dishevelled on a recent hill trip. 🤩

All our mums and calves are now out free-ranging. We waved them off at the end of last week and won't see them regularly for the next few months (don't worry though, the boys are currently greeting our hill trip visitors). Here is one of our mums doing an excellent job of feeding her calf! 🤩

A huge thank you to Watatunga Wildlife Reserve for giving such a warm welcome to the BDVA/BIAZA Deer Conference last week - herders Tilly and Andi had a wonderful time attending, learning lots from all of the brilliant speakers and experiencing a tour around the reserve.

Calling all polyglots! We are looking for some translations of our reindeer information handout and/or children’s quizzes in the following languages only: - French - Spanish - Polish - Italian Please contact us at info@cairngormreindeer.co.uk if you would be able to help us out with a translation.

Trying to play it cool when mum has just peed on your head...

The reindeer are starting to moult now, and tend to moult around the eyes and on their muzzle first. Here's sleepy Zap exhibiting the 'eye-liner' effect!

And just like that, calving is over! 🎉🎉 Our last calf of 2026 has been born, and before long all the cows and calves will head out into the mountains to free-range for summer.

When we bring a reindeer cow in to the nursery area from the main part of the hill enclosure, where they have calved, the calves will sometimes 'play dead' temporarily whilst we're nearby. Hard to sort those long legs out neatly though, when you're only a day old!

Over the last day we have been having issues with our phoneline and apologise to those of you that have been trying to contact us! We are glad to say that are phone line is now live again. Here is a video of two of our calves filmed today.

So far we've had quite a few 'normal coloured' calves (gingery brown), but this wee one has bucked the trend with a white patchy face! Face markings are usually inherited so you often see whole familes with matching patchy faces.

Here is the lovely Salsa with her mum Sundae (and Kuksa behind). Salsa is now a year old and is a real sweetie! 🤩 With lots of new calves being born at the moment it's easy to focus on them, but today's post is shining a light on some of the older members of our herd!

We've had a busy week welcoming new members into our herd. 🥳 This wee one was born on Thursday night and by Friday morning could already outrun herder Lotti. Luckily, his mum was very relaxed and he soon realised that there was nothing to be afraid of! 🤩

Happy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough from our gorgeous free-rangers! 🥳

This wee one was born yesterday so he is sticking close to mum for the time being! 🤩