sawtooth reindeer

ISSUE 2

JANUARY 2024

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THE REINDEER EXPRESS

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THE CLATTER BEFORE CHRISTMAS

We had our first event ever at the ranch this Christmas! The Clatter Before Christmas brought many people together from all walks of life for an evening full of memories and magic. Both kids and adults stood in awe at the sight of reindeer prancing around with excitement, seeing Santa and watching him feed his reindeer, enjoying a hot cup of cocoa or coffee while eating a cookie or two, learning about reindeer as a species, and buying gifts for loved ones and friends. It was a special evening for us, seeing how much everyone loved the event that we worked so hard to put on. This single handedly made all the hard work we put in this past year all worth it.

Leading up to the event, we thought we might have to cancel everything. With temperatures in the high 40’s our parking lot turned into 5″ of mud and was almost impassable for any vehicle. We made the tough decision to bring in road mix to fix the issue. $3,500 and 160 tons of road mix later, we saved the event. We are here to tell ya that trying to spread that much gravel with a small tractor is no small undertaking. We had 2 days to pull it off and finish set up for the event. A few days with some late nights and we got it done.

One of the highlights of our event this year was Santa feeding his Reindeer. Everyone absolutely loved this time and all gathered around to watch. Shaylin took this opportunity to talk to the crowd and did an amazing job at entertaining the crowd, as well as answering anyones questions.

The outpouring of love and support we received from everyone touched our hearts in a way that we never thought was possible. We truly enjoyed every aspect of our time spent with everyone and are looking forward to next year, bringing it back bigger and better every year going forward. Thank you all so much!

A special thank you must go out to all of our dedicated volunteers. You all did an absolute wonderful job and we most definitely couldn’t have done it without you.

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MEET THE REINDEER: DIAMOND

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REINDEER ANTLERS

Reindeer antlers are unique among deer species because both males and females grow them. Each animal has its own unique characteristics to their antlers, no two ever being the same. Antlers grow differently every year and grow bigger as the reindeer matures. Males have bigger antlers than females. Antlers are used for many purposes, such as, digging through snow for food in the winter months, protection from predators, and attracting mates for the breeding season.

There are many stages a reindeers antlers go through every year. The first being the growth stage. Reindeer grow antlers the first year of life and start shortly after they are born. Their antlers grow at an impressive rate of over an inch a day during the growing stage. They are covered in what is referred to as velvet, which is a layer of skin and hair that protects the antlers from insects, as well as provides ample blood flow to support the fast growing antler. Reindeer will start growing their new set of horns immediately after they shed their old set from the year before.

The next stage is referred to as stripping their velvet. Once the antler has fully grown for the season, every Reindeer will begin rubbing their horns on trees that we put in their pens to strip off the velvet. Once the velvet is stripped away, a hard shinny horn will be revealed beneath. They will continue to rub their horns to shine them throughout the breeding season. Reindeer shedding their velvet is also an indication that the breeding season is about to begin. While stripping their velvet it can look pretty gruesome with blood covering their antlers, but this is a painless, natural process that all hard horned ungulates that loose their horns every year go through.

The last stage an antler goes through is when the Reindeer shed their antlers. Both females and males will loose their antlers every year to grow a new set. The bulls will loose their antlers sometime throughout the winter, but the cows will hold theirs longer into the spring. Once the mating season is over the bulls testosterone levels will drop significantly and their horns will typically fall off when those levels are at their lowest. Cows will keep their’s longer to help protect them and dig for food while they are pregnant.

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MONROE GETTING PNEUMONIA

This winter has been far from normal, with temperatures being unseasonably warm and hardly any snow. This has brought on its own set of challenges. Most weather events have been in the form of rain during the day, with temperatures getting below freezing at night, typically accompanied with dense fog. A few of these events have been the perfect storm for a Reindeer to get sick. We knew this as these storms approached, so we prepared ourselves.

We had a solid day of rain and no matter how hard we tried, everything was wet. Knowing the overnight temperatures were going to dip down to the single digits, we were on high alert for any illness’s that might develop over the next few days. Our main concern was pneumonia. A few days after this weather event we noticed Monroe was acting a little off. She seemed more reserved than usual, wasn’t running around with the other girls, and seemed a bit lethargic. We decided to start a regiment of antibiotics to treat her for pneumonia right away. We are glad that we did, because a day later she developed a cough and fever that solidified our suspicions.

Once she developed a cough we knew we needed to separate her for a few days from the others to try to prevent it being spread around. With the weather being wet and cold while she had a fever, we knew we needed to get her warmed up ASAP. Despite Shaylin’s brilliant idea of bringing her into the house for the night, we used our better judgement by not providing a bull in a china shop experience. Instead it was a long night setting up the shelter for her to be dry and comfortable. Old bedding was removed and replaced with fresh straw. We decided to hang a heat lamp to aid in warming her up. Fresh feed and water was added to the shelter for her, so that she could be fully self sufficient. Since the rain had stopped at this point, we put fresh straw outside for the other girls.

She responded well to the treatment and was back up on her feet acting like the same old Monroe in just a few days. Her cough persisted for a couple of weeks before it went just as it had come. We are happy to report that she has made a full recovery and is doing very well.

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WE WERE IN THE NEWS!

We made the news a couple of times the past couple of months. One that we are really proud of is the Salute to Agriculture piece that Channel 11 News did on us. Here are the links if you missed any of the articles.

Idaho Mountain Express

https://www.mtexpress.com/arts_and_events/around_town/reindeer-dreams-turned-into-reality-for-carey-couple/article_db7d854a-87f5-11ee-885d-c702a8cb9dc8.html: THE REINDEER EXPRESS – #2

KMVT Channel 11

https://www.kmvt.com/2023/12/22/salute-idaho-agriculture-sawtooth-reindeer/: THE REINDEER EXPRESS – #2

Eye On Sun Valley

https://eyeonsunvalley.com/Story_Reader?StoryId=11162: THE REINDEER EXPRESS – #2

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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The ranch is finally ready to open for tours on a regular basis! We are so excited to finally be in the position to be open. We are offering regular tours for $20 per adult and $15 per child. These tours can be booked through our website using the red “Book Now” button and it will show all dates and times available. We are also offering private tours. These are a great option for you to pick any day or time that will work for you. Private tours are available starting at $120 for up to 6 people, additional people can be added for $20 per person. To book a private tour please call us at 1-208-721-1459.

Sawtooth Reindeer is open for pre-bookings for the 2024 Christmas season, as well as any other parties throughout the year. We are also available for weddings, engagement photos, and family photos. To schedule a booking please call us at 1-208-721-1459.

Construction is still underway. Shelter #1 is nearly complete with only the roof left to finish. We look forward to completing this shelter and have this pen move in ready in the coming weeks. We are excited to see how the Reindeer react to their new home!

We continue to make progress consistently, but we are going to take a step back for the next few months and take some time for ourselves. Vacation’s have been planned and we are going to enjoy life for a bit. We have been running full bore since this time last year, so to say we are a bit burned out is an understatement. We look forward to some R&R and spending some quality time with each other and our Reindeer.