The baby reindeer calf

• bentehaarstad

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Suddenly when I was with the reindeer herders a couple of weeks ago I saw a newborn calf. Or, at least the calf was just a few weeks old, and that is not normal at all. The reindeer calves are born in May, not in the autumn.

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I wasn’t the only one to see the sweet, little calf, and he was soon brought to the owner (you see who is the owner when the calf follow the mother reindeer, and she has a tag in the ear that tells who the owner is). The owner gave the calf her tag, and she would later take the small one home for bottle feeding. Because there was no chance this little fellow otherwise would have survived now that winter is approaching. There are more pictures in this reindeer photo gallery.

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78 thoughts on “The baby reindeer calf”

    1. It certainly doesn’t happen often and I have never seen one so small in autumn. But I have seen moose babies born in the wrong time, that is late in summer, not in the autumn. I know birds can try to lay eggs a second time if the first time fails for some reason. I am not sure.

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      1. It is very intriguing and I am looking for answers online as it confounds nature. {{HUGS}}

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    1. Hehehe, no Yoshizen, that would be only bones. 😉 This one will be bottlefed and kept at their home during this winter. This way he will also be tamed. Very, very few get tamed.

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  8. If it’s fed through the winter, it might make for good eating in the spring (this is where other commenters throw rotten vegetables at me).

    I do agree about the great photos.

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    1. Rotten tomatoes? then they don’t know were meat is comming from, or don’t want to know. 😉 Anyway, the female animals usually get a long life because they produce new reindeers. A tamed male might also get a long life. 😉 Thanks.

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  13. What a sweetie and it’s good to know it will be cared for over the winter. I suppose each animal is very valuable, so the owners must try to prevent losses as much as possible.

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      3. Ja jestem za pomocą tłumacza, więc nie jestem pewien, czy rozumiem wszystko. Ale chcesz zamówić wydruk? Jeśli tak, można zamówić wydrukowanie na moim webside (wybierz druk insted pobrania), lub zamówić największy pobierz go i wydrukować samodzielnie lub przez lokalną firmę.

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  16. Your post came in just as I was dowloading the photos of lambs that I took yesterday: now that was the farmer’s choice, I suppose, to have them born then. But it all seems so upside-down with winter coming on. Poor little things. What charming photos though

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    1. I think for milking cows the farmers choose when the calf will be born, but lambs follow the nature and are born in early spring, as far as I know. Lambs are so sweet. Thanks for you comment, Margaret.

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  18. The baby is adorable! I looked at your gallery and I gather that the reindeer are white in winter and brown in summer? Match the landscape I assume. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

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    1. They change from winter fur (very thick) to summer fur, but don’t change colours. Some are dark brown, a few are white and most are some kind of mix of dark brown, greyish and white. The latter blend in with most of the summer and winter landscapes in the mountains. You need a trained eye to see them from far away. Thanks, Plant Girl.

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  21. That’s really interesting. How sweet the little one is! It’s good that it was spotted and will now have a chance at growing up.
    I love your reindeer series, Bente!

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  42. Oh vad söt den är! Konstigt att den är född nu. Hos masajjerna har de en särskild fålla inomhus (den tar upp 1/6 av det lilla inomhusutrymmet de har), där de har småkalvar den första tiden t ex på nätterna.
    Underbara bilder, jag njuter av att se dem! Glad att du var där med kameran i hand!
    Kraaaaaaaam och allt gott till dej!

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