Saturday is our preparation day, which means that we get to clean and scrub, wash, shop etc., etc. When we get through, we also are allowed to check out the local sights. Last Saturday, Sister C. and I drove up the Glen Highway toward Palmer. We changed to the Old Glenn Highway and after ten minutes or so, we arrived at a farm owned and operated by Church members. It is a Reindeer Farm. Besides having a large herd of reindeer, they have Rocky Mountain Elk, a bison, and a domesticated moose.
Sister C climbed into a snow sleigh before we went
into the pen with the reindeer.
Inside the pen. The two young men helping with the
reindeer are the local LDS missionaries.
Our guide was a cute blue eyed blond from Palmer
who just happens also to be LDS.
Expectant eyes - a reindeer waiting for a handful of feed.
Almost all of the reindeer in this pen are from this
year's births. They are relatively small and mostly tame.
They gave us a cup of feed which we poured into
our hand and then the calves would...
eat it out of our hand. It was a delightful experience!
It was a preview of the Millennium --
no enmity between man and the animals!
They were completely trusting.
They were also hungry...
This experience put me on a cloud.
The elders give service hours here twice a week.
They help with training the animals.
Sister Lamb explains that four of the small animals
are being trained and sent to Hollywood.
This is Dolly, the bison.
She has attitude issues. She enjoys the leaves
on the branches.
But, she definitely doesn't like to be touched. We
were warned to keep our hands out of the pen as
she likes to try to hook people with her horns.
This is Denali, the eight year old moose. He was
rescued down in Homer, where his mother had
abandoned him. He was smuggled first to a Llama
farm.
When the people heard about the reindeer farm, they
called and asked whether they were willing to raise a
moose calf.
So, this five or six day old calf was again smuggled
to Palmer to the reindeer farm. This was all very
illegal at the time. But, the farm people have since
gotten the documents from the state to allow them
to keep him.
They fed him from a bottle for awhile - he actually
was in the house with the owners for some time.
He was finally put in a pen outside. But, he is very
domesticated. He loves the leaves from the branches
and he doesn't mind at all being petted.
His rack was still covered in velvet. That was an
interesting feeling -- rubbing his horns. The nose
is much like a horse's - soft and velvety. I never
thought that I would ever get to pet a moose.
Denali loves bananas. So, they cut a banana in half,
then an intrepid visitor puts the banana in their mouth,
holding it with the teeth usually.
Denali then takes the other end of the banana and
then consumes it. The "pass" from human to moose
looks very much like a kiss.
After 37 years of kissing an "ape", Sister C. decided
that it was time to kiss a moose.
I ain't kissin' you until you wash your face and brush
your teeth, ya' know!
Her name is Mariah Lamb. She is about 5' 10" and
is a junior in high school. She's very pretty and
was a real sweety.
was a real sweety.
By the way, all of the reindeer in the pen where we
were have been given Book of Mormon names! -- all
except for one with miss-shapened horns whom they
named "Pippen." The elders did the naming.
They also have a herd of Rocky Mountain Elk on the
farm. These large game animals are fed a diet of grain
and hay. Umh-uhm! Just imagine how good a stake
from one of them would taste!
Sister C. next to the tractor --
my turn.
We both left the farm on an emotional high. Like I said, it was like a preview of the day when the Lamb and the Lion shall lie down together with out any ire. Besides which, the reindeer were so cute, you couldn't help but enjoy them.
Looks like tons of fun! So sad we missed that when we were visiting. Rachel keeps saying we should go back to Alaska to visit you guys-- maybe we'd better so we can visit the reindeer! :)
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