Occurs in June and July
This is when the reindeer head up to the high fells or out on to plains where the heat and the insects are less of a burden. Reindeer are particularly sensitive to the reindeer warble fly and the reindeer nose botfly – two insects whose larvae parasitize reindeer.
At the end of June, herders start collecting their reindeer together in order to mark the calves. This is a hectic time for the herder, who has to adopt a nocturnal lifestyle for several weeks in the summer, as calf-marking takes place mostly in the evening and night when it is cooler. It can take several days to gather the herd together, depending on wind and weather.
The reindeer are usually spread over large areas and so have to be gathered with the help of helicopters and motorbikes, but also on foot. The Sami villages have several marking enclosures in various places that are used at different times, depending on where the reindeer are collected from. In the enclosure, the calves stay with their mothers, making it easy to see who owns which calf. Calves are caught using a lasso and marked using different combinations of cuts in the ear. Each owner has his own distinct earmark.
Name: Inga-Wictoria Påve
Lives: Jokkmok with her roots in Lannavaara in Kiruna municipality
Profession: Artist
Here you can read more about Inga-Wictoria:
ingawiktoria.se
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