The Sámi NorthJun – Jul
Calf Marking
Born in May, marked after midsummer
Calves are born in May and marked in the weeks after midsummer. The herd is gathered into a corral, and each calf is identified with its mother and then given the owner's mark — a pattern of small cuts in the ear, which is how ownership has been recorded here for centuries and still is.
Every family has its own mark and they are registered. A herder can read a hundred of them across a corral at speed, which is a genuinely startling thing to watch somebody do.
It happens at night, or what passes for night in July, because it is cooler and the animals are calmer. Expect to be awake at three in the morning and to find that entirely normal by the second one.