Dec 23rd, 2017: Cairngorm Reindeer

[xoxoxoBruce]

Now everyone believes Santa make his annual rounds with 8 reindeer plus Rudolf on foggy nights.
C’mon, reindeer aren’t that strong, and having a reindeer blowout at speed is grim, very grim.
The truth is Santa has spares stashed a numerous locations, one being in Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park
In 1952 Santa persuaded the government to let his front man, Mikel Utsi and his wife Ethel Lindgren, bring reindeer from Sweden
and run a spare reindeer farm using 10,000 acres of the National Park for free grazing.
Then Alan and Elizabeth Smith took over in the 80’s, added public tours, a gift shop, mail order, and sponsorships of a reindeer
for £39 ($53) a year. All with free food from the park, sweet deal.

There is a daily guided trip that allows visitors to stroke and feed the animals. Reindeer are poorly suited to captivity. Without space to roam in their natural environment and climate, they rarely stay healthy.

They repeat that mantra to keep the sweetheart deal with the park from being criticized.

These tame and friendly reindeer are not just for Christmas, visitors can see them all year round. While the big adult males are trained to pull a sleigh on wheels, they only do so for public appearances.

A believable cover story for Santa duty training.



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