reindeer in the cairngorms

Tue, Sep 9, 2008

We were over at Glenmore Lodge for the MCofS AGM at the weekend. Well we were there for the mountain birds seminar, hog roast and ceilidh but we popped along to the business end of the AGM and listened to the Alladale talk, which I’ll blog about later. The mountain bird seminar began with a slide show and talk about what to see in the mountains followed by a wild and wet walk up past Coire an Lochain and up to Lurcher’s Crag. We only managed to spot a couple of Meadow Pipits being whisked along in the gale and the clag was down to tree top level, so that was that! But we learned about the Bird Atlas, which is an interesting winter bird survey run by the BTO and hillwalkers are especially useful for recording species in less frequented areas. On the Sunday it was another washout so we spent an hour or two with the reindeer at the feeding station on the Lairig Ghru path.

Reindeer are superbly adapted to the sub arctic environment of the high plateau, growing an extra fur coat in the winter and when they walk, a tendon whips across a bone in their legs, making a clicking sound which helps them stay together in poor visibility. Their core temperature is 38deg, maintained by some nifty air mechanics, with outgoing warm air helping to warm incoming cold air. Their coats are so inuslating they don’t melt the snow when they lie overnight on the high tops.

The velvet on the antlers is there to protect the bone while it grows under the soft skin, fed by a network of blood vessels. In fact, velvet is the fastest growing tissue on the body. You’ll often see them bend their heads back and scrape at the ends of the antlers with their broad hoofs. This is to encourage the antlers to grow. The herd is managed by castrating a certain amount of males each year to make sure they don’t over populate and starve, like red deer and these “sledge reindeer” are used to publicise the privately owned herd and to help conserve the them in these remote mountains. These are the ones that pull the sleighs in the festive season. The main stags then start to prepare for the rut in October by testing each other out with gentle jousting and locking of antlers, with their velvet having dropped off, leaving shiny new antler bone, with the network of blood vessels still visible in indentations on the almost wood-like surface. The pattern of antlers on each reindeer is unique and helps to protect their eyes and faces during contests, with the central blade being used to this effect. Whereas red deer bellow during the rut, reindeer stags grunt, almost as if clearing their throats.

Reindeer are remarkable tame and gentle. A real asset to the high mountains and greatly enhancing any wild northern Cairngorm camp, as I can well attest!

You can see all the pics here.