I spotted reindeer in snowy northern Finland as I was driving north on Highway E8 towards Kittilä in the Lapland of the country. Just in time for Chanukah — and, I suppose, for Christmas as well — 2024, here are some photographs and a video of my brief experience.
Reindeer in Snowy Northern Finland. Short Video Included.
Along the side of the road was a yellow sign that warned of Poronhoitoalue Renskötselomrade, which in English is an area of reindeer husbandry…
…and sure enough, a herd of reindeer appeared.
As I first mentioned in the most recent Sunday Morning Photograph article, the reindeer would obviously not wait around for me to get my camera out and attach the telephoto lens; so I had to capture these images with my smartphone, which is why the photographs are grainy.
Here is a short video of the herd of reindeer as taken from the car because I could not get out of the car without scaring them away, as I already committed that mistake once.
These reindeer are apparently Finnish forest reindeer, which are also known as Eurasian forest reindeer or European forest reindeer and are one of the largest subspecies of reindeer. They can be as long as 220 centimeters, with the tail up to 15 centimeters. The adult male can weigh up to 250 kilograms, while adult females can weigh approximately 100 kilograms.
Final Boarding Call
If you were wondering about Santa Claus, he was nowhere to be found. None of the reindeer had a shiny red nose — or a very black lung — so I am sure I did not see Rudolph, either.
May your holidays be joyful. Merry Christmas and Chappy Chanukah.
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
