PENN FOREST TOWNSHIP, CARBON COUNTY — Rudolph is not the only one with a red nose, as the cold weather is officially welcoming in the holiday season.
Cassandra Hoover and Dave Mead are working before the sun comes up in Penn Forest Township. Opening the gates and checking in on the dogs, before greeting their other mystical animals, Reindeer.
"I actually walked into a local tractor supply store many years ago and they’re like, ‘Hey it’s the reindeer lady!’ So it just kind of stuck," said Cassandra Hoover, Spruce Ridge Reindeer.
Hoover, also known as the reindeer magic lady, has brought the beautiful creatures to NEPA since 2015. First, giving educational tours alongside her mother-in-law with wild white-tail deer, the thought of owning reindeer was made thanks to a curious little girl in 2011.
"Crosses her arms, pitches her hip, put her nose up in the air and said, ‘Hey, that’s not a reindeer,’ and at that point, my husband said, ‘That’s it, we’re getting reindeer!’ We went home and googled it," said Hoover
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Now four female and three male reindeer occupy the Spruce Ridge Reindeer grounds off PA 534.
But it’s not as easy as one would think, the arctic animals like Jingles & Patrick, do not have an immune system to live here, so they use synergistic energies to create a reindeer-friendly ecosystem.
"The guardian dogs that we have, the guinea hens, natural practices that we use inside the fencing, but that’s our biggest energy spend is keeping the environment safe for them, more so than the daily care of the reindeer is," said Hoover.
When coming to the farm in Carbon County, you get to learn fun facts about reindeer, just like how their antlers here are unique to every single reindeer, like a human’s fingerprint.
“Did you know that reindeer click when they walk? ‘up on the rooftop click, click, click,’ they really do truly click and we’ll tell you why when you come visit us!” said Hoover
Another fact about reindeer, they have been domesticated animals longer than horses.You can book a trip to visit them in Carbon County at Spruce Ridge Reindeer.
