The “Show Me State” may be a long way from the North Pole, but one Missouri family has cornered the market on Christmas cheer with their reindeer farm.
Jeremiah and Kari Scull and their children Addie and Audrie have traveled across Missouri during November and December with their herd of reindeer for years, attending parades, tree lightnings and a Santa’s sack full of other holiday events.
Recently two of their 15 reindeer were invited to Windsor High School in Imperial, near the Illinois border, to cheer up students during finals week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The two deer slept in a pen most of the time and students weren’t allowed to touch them, but it didn’t stop the young scholars from feeling the Christmas spirit.
“They’re also my family, my pets, so I don’t tie my animals up to a sleigh or stand them out there on the lead rope for hours on end,” Jeremiah told the outlet.
“The kids have been so excited. They’re high schoolers, but look at them” JoAnn Marty, a student council advisor, told the Post-Dispatch. “I’m just as giddy as the kids are, because I know how excited they are.”
The family business, Show-Me Reindeer, booked 70 events this winter, the outlet reported.
Schull started raising reindeer in 2014. after taking his eldest daughter. Addie. to a farm in Arkasnas that had one of the hooved animals, which are originally from Scandinavia and northern Russia. He noticed how the animal drew crowds, and after learning the reindeer traveled around the Midwest, he wondered why no one in Missouri had done the same thing, he told The Post-Dispatch.
“We were looking for a hobby animal to get into. I just started looking into reindeer in general,” he said. “There wasn’t anybody that was really doing it at the time.”
Since then, the reindeer business has really grown, with 130 farms across the U.S., U.K. and Canada, according to the Post-Dispatch. The average cost for a reindeer is $18,000 to $20,000.
Maintaining cold-climate animals in Missouri is a lot of work and the family must constantly monitor the deer, as they are prone to parasites and tick-borne illnesses. They also have to keep the animals cool throughout the summer, including giving them kiddie pools and brushing them to help with their winter coats.
The family does not do “Christmas in July” events, as reindeer grow antler in the spring and summer.
As the business grows, the Schulls hope to breed their reindeer to sell to other farms, they told the outlet.
They are also hoping to start offering tours of their farm and to rent out of their reindeer for the entire winter season.
Jeremiah also said he hopes his daughters carry on the business and expand it further across the state.
“I’d love to be able to carry it on,” Addie said. “It’s an awesome job.”