The Highlands

Alright gang,

I promised you all a little recap on my big weekend in the Highlands (or at least some of you) and I like to think that I'm a man of my word. As you all know (or will soon learn) I'm not a brilliant author, so I thought I'd let some of my photos guide the post. I'll try to fill in the gaps with a little writing, but I'm sure we'll all appreciate the images a bit more. I'd apologize that they're all of reindeer, but really that just makes them that much better. I don't care if you want variety, you'll enjoy what you get...ingrates.

Magnus - a breeding bull

So I don't remember if I've posted anything about my work on planning a dissertation project, but the whole process has been relatively difficult. I started out back in April with nothing more than a decent idea of where my passions lie - by combining certain aspects of my education, upbringing, travel experiences (and the little bit of idealism that somehow exists in an admitted cynic) I have found myself more and more interested in exploring the viability of alternative hoofstock species in development agriculture.

Now don't worry if that went a bit over your head, you certainly aren't the first to have a confused look on your face. Let's just say that if you're trying to pick up a pretty girl at a bar, it's a lot easier to say "I work with animals" than spend the next hour explaining what that sentence actually means. Fortunately. I know that anyone who reads this blog is pretty sharp, so I'll give it a go with the explanation that I generally use.

In developing regions of the world, animal agriculture represents an important source of nutrition (not to mention draft power, transportation, etc.) and provides much of the protein necessary for proper growth & development, cell function, and a whole mess of other important things. I'm not at all interested in arguing with vegetarians about this topic. Meat and other animal products are incredibly useful and downright delicious. Unfortunately, there are several downsides to animal production in developing countries: traditional livestock require significant resources to raise, can have a negative impact on the local environment, and are not automatically well suited for every climate on earth. The example I always use is that of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa. Most domestic breeds of cattle are descended from a Bos taurus or an essentially European ancestor. These animals did not evolve to cope with the harsh conditions of the region and they have many issues, like low production quality, low production efficiency, and a plethora of welfare issues, which are not easily resolved. The idea then, is to replace cattle with native species which are better suited to the environment. An eland, for example, is perfectly adapted to cope with African heat, low precipitation and marginal food supplies while still producing high-quality products (many of which have significantly higher shelf-lives than those produced by cows). While there are many issues that need to be overcome in behavior and reproduction, I think the field holds a lot of promise for reducing the environmental impact of animal agriculture in these developing countries while reducing hunger issues and food security problems.

Running to Dinner

Plus a job like this would let me keep travelling all over the world and work with all the best animals. There could be projects like this anywhere from Swaziland to the Northwest Territories and beyond.

"Enough of that dry sciencey mumbo-jumbo" you shout, "tell us about the Highlands!" Well, dear reader, your wish is my command.

Reindeer and I have a lot in common. For instance we both love to pose for photographs.
Is it vanity that drives us? Absolutely yes.

This last weekend I travelled up to the North of Scotland to visit a reindeer herd that has been in operation for almost sixty years and will be the focus of my dissertation research this coming spring. Now I don't know how much experience any of you have with reindeer, but basically they're awesome. I have worked with many different species in my life so far, but the reindeer has a certain charm that most of these other animals lack...a certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. Plus they're absolutely gorgeous to look at, which doesn't hurt at all.

Loch Morlich in the Background

So the Cairngorm herd is currently owned by Tilly and Allen Smith. I met the former this weekend to discuss the project, and she seemed like exactly the kind of person I want to be working with - welcoming, cheerful, and (best of all) receptive to sarcasm, provided it comes on the back of a little hard work. She's exactly what you would imagine the combination of hardy Scottish farmer and reindeer expert to be, going from butchering a sheep on the dining table in the morning to training reindeer to pull a sleigh in the afternoon. Basically, she's pretty damn cool.

The Cairngorm Mountains in the Background

Best of all, she seemed very receptive to the idea of having me come up to conduct my research at the centre. After a lot of discussion we came to the conclusion that my developing a comprehensive study of maternal behavior would be the most useful project for everyone involved. The specifics are still in the works, but for at least part of the research period it looks like I will be following new mothers as they lead the calves up on to the mountain tops for summer grazing. That means legitimately becoming a reindeer myself, camping out for days or weeks at a time, and generally having reverting into a wild man. I imagine a loin-cloth will be involved at some point. At the very least there will be some eyewitness reports of a very scruffy guy running free and unburdened (of stress, problems, and clothing) with the reindeer.

The weather was unbelievable, the nicest I've seen since I left America.

I'm sure by now you've noticed a bit of a giddy tone in my writing. If you know me well, you know that it takes a lot to get me excited about anything. After telling a class-mate about my trip she mentioned that I was acting like I had just fallen for a pretty girl. It's not exactly the same (reindeer don't make me feel particularly romantic) but I realized that the feeling was a lot the same, this project has so much potential to be amazing for me that I can't help but feel butterflies in my stomach. Hell, I'm having trouble concentrating on school work because I keep daydreaming about reindeer. Sounds silly, I know, but it's not a feeling I've had in a long time.

So that's it for now. Feel free to suggest topics for future posts if you like.

I apologize for the pictures. I recently had to reformat the ol' computrix and lost my photoshop in the process. The disk is in the mail, but I thought you all might like to see some pics before they get here. I managed to do a little rough editing with some programs on the computer, but I'll probably be redoing it all again at some point. Hope they at least give a sense of how awesome reindeer are. We'll finish off with a couple favorites from the trip.

A young castrate shows a little interest in the photographer

Just a handsome animal