Twenty-five years ago this autumn, during a mountain ranger patrol, my friend and colleague Arne J. Mortensen and I came across something we had never seen quite like before. Two large wild reindeer bulls were standing close together. At first, it was difficult to understand what was happening.
Then we realised that their antlers were completely locked together.
Locked together
The bulls had probably been fighting during the rut when their antlers became caught. Normally, such fights are settled quickly. This time, neither animal had been able to break free.
We believed they had already been like this for several days.
One of the bulls was large and still had some strength left. The other was younger and much weaker. When the stronger bull tried to move, the other had no choice but to follow. Several times, the weaker bull sank down on his knees.
The situation was more serious than the antlers simply being tangled. Part of the antler was pressing into the neck of the weaker animal. Both were exhausted, and it was clear that they could not continue like this for much longer.
Wild reindeer normally keep their distance from people. These two were so tired that we could stand only a few metres away.
Should we interfere?
We had to decide what to do.
Should we leave them and let nature take its course? Or should we put the animals down? Neither option felt right when there was still a chance that we could separate them.
The problem was – how?
Trying to handle two large wild reindeer bulls during the rut is not without risk. Even after several days locked together, the larger bull still had considerable strength.
Then we remembered a mountain cabin nearby. It was about half an hour away, and we knew there was a carpenter’s saw inside.
Arne went to get it while I stayed with the reindeer.
A carpenter’s saw in the mountains
When he returned, the bulls were still in almost exactly the same place.
We approached them carefully. At this point they were so exhausted that we were able to get close enough to hold the antlers. Still, we knew that a sudden movement from either animal could be dangerous.
We decided that our best chance was to cut through one of the antlers of the larger bull.
It was much harder than it sounds.
The antler was thick, and we had to work slowly. One of us tried to keep the antlers steady while the other used the saw. There was no room for sudden movements. Little by little, the saw worked its way through the antler.
Eventually, only a small piece remained.
Then the antler broke.
Everything happened at once. The younger bull pulled free, and we had to move quickly out of the way. After being locked together for days, the two animals were finally separated.
The next day
The stronger bull was able to move away, but the weaker one was completely exhausted. He remained close to where we had left him.
The following day, we returned to see if he had survived.
We found him less than a hundred metres from where he had been the evening before. He still looked weak and tired, and for a while he hardly reacted to us.
Then, as I approached, he lifted his head.
Slowly, on stiff legs, he began to walk away.
That was enough. He had made it through the night and still had the strength to move on.
Arne and I later wrote about the encounter in our book Villreinens rike, published by Naturforlaget in 2005. The story is told in more detail in the book, together with several photographs from that day.
The photograph
I have spent many years among wild reindeer and have witnessed many fights between bulls during the rut. Usually they separate again within a short time. Occasionally, however, their antlers become locked together, and the consequences can be serious.
This was an encounter I have never forgotten.
The photographs from that day became a record of both the strength and the vulnerability of these animals. One of them later became Fighting Reindeer.
For me, the photograph is more than an image of two wild reindeer bulls fighting. It takes me back to an unusual day in the mountains in 2001, when a carpenter’s saw from a small mountain cabin gave two exhausted animals another chance.
