‘Being in the house is normal’ for Lars the reindeer

“He drinks from the dog’s water bowl. That’s normal for him. Being in the house is normal with him.”

Hand-reared reindeer Lars was raised with pet spaniels, but was reintroduced into his herd earlier this year.

However, the six-month-old, described by his owner Angie Nelson as “unique”, still likes to spend time inside the house to visit his canine friends.

Angie said the first time Lars spent time with his herd overnight was “like sending your child off to university”.

“Only as parents do you get that, because it’s like ‘oh my god they’re now out’ and you can’t protect them and look after them. They have to live their life,” she said.

Angie said Lars was born on 17 May this year, a date which is “stuck in my head like my children’s birthdays”.

She has owned reindeers full-time for 18 years at her farm, which is between Market Harborough in Leicestershire and Corby in Northamptonshire.

Lars was born to first-time mum Lumi, but Angie noticed that Lars came to her a lot in his first day as his mother was not producing enough milk.

She then had to make a “massive” decision whether to hand rear him “or let nature take its course”.

“I slept down with him for two weeks because I was feeding him every two hours and so my life just became him,” Angie said, adding that every day of having Lars was “a blessing”.

“Knowing that he wouldn’t be alive if we hadn’t done something is quite rewarding,” she said.

Angie said Lars’ spaniel companions had been “really key” in his successful upbringing.

One dog in particular, Molly, had puppies before and was “really motherly” with Lars, Angie said, and “immediately snuggled down with him”.

“So then he became part of the dog family really,” she added.

Angie said: “He’s just at home with them and he’s at home in [the house] and the key bit was trying to make sure he was all so comfortable and happy within his reindeer community.”

Angie said Lars was reintroduced to his herd because it would be “completely impractical” to have him in the house full-time.

“He’s now settled there, but equally he’s more than happy to come back and it’s nice to have him back for visits and he sees the dogs,” she said.

Lars was integrated back into the herd while Angie organised her wedding with now husband Justin Mumford, and the reindeer featured in some of the photos from her special day.

Angie, who hires out reindeer for events, described owning the animals as “really specialised”.

“We’ve had to do a lot of learning over the years.

“We’ve got a very unique set of circumstances which Lars has been born into,” she said.

Angie added that she had also received requests from German television to do a piece on Lars, as well as national media from the UK.