Alex's Trip to Sweden: Reindeer herding like no one expected

I went reindeer herding today! Since that's the cooler part, I'll start with yesterday's time spent at the Ajite museum right next to the Sami school. It tracks the Sami throughout their archiological history, as well as presents information about the local wildlife and geological history. This picture was taken in a room about sedimentary rock and continental drift, and I was so shocked to see this that I took a picture of it. There were quite a few taxidermical treats in the museum, from owls to wolverienes to rodents. We got free roam of the museum on the day it's usually closed, which is why I was able to sneak a lot of pictures. I think we're going to be taking another tour Thursday with a guide, so I might have more to say about it then and post a few more pictures.

On a much more interesting note, I took a couple of videos today that may help me explain what was going on with the Reindeer herding Samis:

(You would have seen it here, but the uploader sucks)

This first video was our first impression of the reindeer corral. There were about 400 reindeer running around, as well as a lot of herders and a few families with their kids. Some, like the reindeer pictured here, had bells around them as a marking by one woman. Most, however, are totally indistinguishable except by an individual's marking placed in the reindeer's ear. That's how the herders are able to identify their reindeer in the pack as the lasso into the group of reindeer that have crowded around. In the next video, you will see what happens when the herders being to pen the reindeer together to begin sorting them:

(You would have seen it here, but the uploader sucks)

In this picture, you should look closely and you will see the largest antlers of the day directly in the center. Although they may seem smaller at this scale, their antlers were humongous with a great amount of detailing. The reindeer make their antlers by rubbing their stubs against their back legs, which store a hormone that helps the antlers grow. Most have symmetrical antlers, but some cannot make them the same because of physical ailments, and some break their antlers off over time. Although we had a few antlers break today, they only bleed for a little time before healing.

Next is the fun part. When the herder lassoed a reindeer, it was our job to steer them into a smaller corral attached to the larger one, or out to their owner's trucks. Here's a video of Roland Thorstensson and Bryan untying one, and the following picture is them guiding, pulling, and shoving the reindeer to the pen.

These reindeer are maybe smaller than you're used to seeing, but it still takes two strong people to get them to move. Bryan and I were able to steer some of the young ones by ourselves, but it was tiring work. Most of us could only do two in a row, and then had to sit down and rest for a few minutes. We had a runner with us say "I can run 13 miles easy, but I'm out of breath after taking back one," and he's in really good shape. On top of just transporting them, I got to hold one down while it was castrated (gross!) and we saw one get gutted and taken apart too. From what we gathered basically no one outside the herding group usually gets to do this, and it's an experience I know I won't soon forget. We're all going to sleep well tonight.

Lastly, on our way back, we decided to stop at the arctic circle line and take pictures. Bryan took his shirt off and stood by a sign to get photographed, but I don't have that picture (not that I would post it anyways) but I also had my picture taken. It's only know that I realize I look like a Japanese tourist (note the peace symbol, camera, and too big smile):