By Kate Pounds
A hand-reared reindeer thinks it’s a dog after being raised with spaniel ‘siblings’ – and loves to snuggle with them by the Christmas tree.
Farm-owner Angie Nelson, 54, made the tough decision to hand-raise calf Lars at four days old because his mom, Lumi, ran out of milk.
Angie, who has one of the UK’s largest herds of, developed a strong bond with Lars – and the pair snuggle up together so that the calf can fall asleep on Angie’s shoulder.
Angie woke every two hours to bottle feed him – and even fed him in her wedding dress when she married forestry consultant Justin Mumford, 52, in June.
Lars also became very attached to the farm’s three dogs, Jess, 13, Molly, six, and Meg, three, sharing their basket by the fire, and playing with them.
Now he spends time outside with the other reindeer at Home Farm, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire but still comes inside to drink from the dog bowl and snuggle in their basket.
But his favorite place is still in front of the fire, where he also enjoys admiring the Christmas tree and watching the twinkling lights.
Angie said: “Celebrating our first Christmas with Lars feels so exciting and very special!
“I had no idea whether he’d survive his first two weeks, now I’m relaxed and can enjoy it.
“It’s lovely that he still comes into the house.
“We still have a parent child relationship.
“He comes straight to me when I call him, and follows me around, but he also likes playing with the other calves.
“I’d say he’s a 50/50 dog and reindeer now.
“He plays with the other calves but still loves being with the dogs.
“When he comes in he goes straight to their bowl and has a big drink of water.
“Then he gets in the basket and they all give him a good wash.
“Lars is gorgeous and we’re so lucky to have him.”
Lars was born weighing just 6lbs – 2lbs below the average weight of a reindeer calf.
Angie noticed Lars wasn’t getting much milk – and after the situation didn’t improve from an oxytocin injection – to help start milk production for mum Lumi Angie moved him into the house she shares with Justine and their four children.
Angie said: “I think it’s so rare to bottle raise a reindeer calf because it’s hard to spot that they aren’t getting enough milk until it’s very late and they are very weak.
“I’m lucky that Lars let me know he was hungry so I started watching very early.
“You don’t take a calf from its mum unless you absolutely have to, but he was making it very clear from early on that he was hungry and we could see she didn’t have much milk.”
Lars is named after Everest climber Lars Kropp because on his first day in the house he broke out of his play pen and made his way upstairs.
The lovable calf tapped into pup Molly’s maternal instinct – she used to wash him all over and even allowed him to affectionately nibble her ears.
He still comes into the house three times a week, where he likes to drink from the dogs’ water bowl, snuggle in their basket, and they all give him a good wash.
Lars also still enjoys his favorite treat, shreddies.
Angie – who’s been a reindeer farmer for 18 years – has never heard of a calf being hand-reared before and thinks Lars may be the first in Britain, at least in recent times.
She said: “It was exhausting hand raising Lars.
“It was a huge and terrifying responsibility, but I feel very fortunate to have been able to do something so special.
“I don’t know of anyone else who has bottle-raised a reindeer calf.
“We’ll always have a very special bond.”
On Home Farm they have 43 reindeer, mini donkeys, ponies, a goose and a couple of alpacas.
The reindeer have appeared at red-carpet events for Frozen film premieres as well as on Tesco and Homebase adverts.
Visitors to the farm will be able to meet and hand feed Lars and the other reindeer on the farm over six days this Christmas (13, 14, 20, 21,22, 23 December).
Lars has his own social media @LarsTheBabyReindeer and might even get a turn at pulling Santa’s slay on Christmas Eve.
Angie said “We’re Santa’s UK’s HQ, and if his reindeer are tired he’ll rest them and use some of ours while he’s in the UK then switch them back when he goes on elsewhere.
“Lars is very confident so I’m sure he’d be up for helping Santa, and I think he’ll enjoy meeting Rudolph and Santa’s team.”
