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The herd is healthy and bulking up for the winter months ahead. It seems strange not to have a baby reindeer to train this summer. Copper has no little brother or sister tagging along. He's a big reindeer but seems to be more immature than his brothers were at this age. Usually a reindeer calf stops barking by its first birthday. Copper continues to greet us with a bark at mealtime. He also sticks pretty close to mom and is still a bit shy with people. Nevertheless, he wants to go for walks with the rest of the reindeer searching for the mushrooms that grow in the fall rainy season.
Summer brings lots and lots of green treats for the reindeer. Dandelions are by far the favorite. As the dandelions phase out, clover is the next best thing.
The reindeer like spring. As the snow disappears there is plenty of young moss and grasses to nibble on. In the lower winter pen, their favorite ice skating area quickly develops a shallow lake on top of the ice. They love to run through the water skating on the ice as they go.
The reindeer spend their days digging through the snow searching for moss and vegetation. They follow close behind whenever we walk through the pens checking fences and picking up any plastic bags that may have blown into the pens. Every once in a while Crystal and Silver get affectionate, "reindeer style."  January 2006:
Now that we're done breeding Crystal and Silver it is fairly quiet in the reindeer pen this winter. For the most part, the herd gets along pretty well. They stick together and most of the time they nap along side each other. Copper and Crystal are usually in the middle.
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August 2006: 
June 2006: 
March 2006: 
February 2006:
