Six-month-old Kringle is the youngest of four reindeer that live at Tracy and Scott Snowman’s reindeer farmin rural Canton. The family will open their farm for the third season beginning on Friday, Nov. 24from 6 to 8 p.m. (Photo courtesy of Snowman’s Reindeer Farm

With a surname like Snowman, it may have been fate that led Canton natives Scott and Tracy to own a small reindeer farm.  

“At the end of the first season in 2015, Scott said, ‘If you think about it this is the perfect thing for us because it kind of rolls everything that we love into one big package: kids and teaching and Christmas and animals.’ Our last name is Snowman. What other kind of pet are we going to have?” said Tracy.  

The couple, who also teach art at Spoon River College and own an art studio in downtown Canton, are opening up their small farm to the public to view and interact with  their reindeer for the third season beginning Friday, Nov. 24.  

Located at 25599 E. Middle Lake Road in Canton, the Snowman’s Reindeer Farm will be open mostly weekends through the end of December. Specific hours are listed on their website at  www.snowmansreindeer.com.  

Admission is $5 with children under 2 free and includes a visit with Santa and the reindeer. The farm also features an educational Visitors Center, a new snack bar and a gift shop with locally made items.  

While it may have seemed like destiny, the couple fell into reindeer ownership almost serendipitously. 

“The idea first originated in 2011 when we were writing and illustrating our first children’s book. We needed to illustrate reindeer and we could not find good resource pictures.  So Scott made an off-hand comment that maybe we ought to get our own reindeer,” Tracy said. “He has some wild ideas sometimes, so I didn’t think too much of it at first.” 

Scott started researching it, since he’s always been involved in farming and loves animals, and the next thing Tracy knew, they were on a few waiting lists to buy their own reindeer.   

“They’re complicated animals to keep and very expensive, so it took us awhile to save up enough money to even think about. And then we got a call kind of last minute in 2015 that there were two available, so we brought them home,” Tracy said. 

The Snowmans named the reindeer Klaus and Nutmeg and immediately fell in love with them. Not knowing what to expect, they opened their farm to the public for a weekend late in 2015.  

“We’re just about five minutes from city limits in Canton and 30 minutes from the Peoria airport, but we are rural so we thought no one’s going to come all the way out here to see reindeer,” Tracy said. “Well, we had people parked for probably half a mile in both directions. We realized very quickly that we weren’t the only ones fascinated by reindeer.” 

About 5,000 people visited last year, but the Snowmans were hit with a devastating blow this spring when they lost Klaus and Nutmeg, who was pregnant, to Lyme disease.  

“They were evidently bitten by a tick in February, but who looks for ticks in February?” Tracy said. “Losing them nearly killed us both. We almost closed. But our (grown) kids helped us decide it was too important to us and we loved it too much to just let it end there. So we ended up getting four more reindeer and we spent a good chunk of money this summer beefing up and changing our environment with new bio-security measures and parasite measures.”  

The couple are USDA certified to exhibit the reindeer but go beyond the federal  requirements, including double fencing to keep out tick-carrying white-tailed deer. They also require visitors to sanitize their hands and feet when entering and leaving the barn.  

The family’s new reindeer include 3-year-old Sven, one-year-olds Mistletoe and Snowball and 6-month-old Kringle. Mistletoe and Snowball are breeding, so the Snowmans hope to have a baby reindeer in the spring. 

“They are all very sweet and friendly and have very distinct personalities. They’re very friendly and naturally curious,” Tracy said. “They really like people and they like to just hang out with you and be in close proximity.”  

Some visitors are surprised to learn that reindeer actually exist. “A lot of people think reindeer are mythical creatures like unicorns,” Tracy said. “Other comments we get are that they’re smaller than people thought since they are only 3 to 3 ½ feet tall, and people are surprised by the fact that the females have antlers.”  

Tracy said it’s been humbling to see how the reindeer touch others. She recalled the first season when a woman in her 80s came from Kewanee to see them.   

“She was absolutely mesmerized by the reindeer. She was teary and very emotional. She just thought they were the neatest animal she’d ever seen in her life. That reaction made all of that worth it the first year,” Tracy said. 

A standout moment from the second year was when an autistic child from Peoria put both hands on Klaus and kept whispering “Merry Christmas.”  

“After they got the students back on the bus, his teacher  said she’d never heard him talk before, and she couldn’t believe it. And when Klaus died, that was the moment that kept coming back to me. That sweet animal unlocked something in that child that no one else could, and it was just beautiful and so sweet and so simple,” Tracy said, choking back tears.   

After sneak previews during Spoon River Drive and earlier this month, the Snowmans Reindeer Farm will officially open this weekend from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24, 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Additional hours are listed on the website. 

Noting that phone calls and social media interest have been off the charts, Tracy said the family may have to go to a reservation system, possibly even mid-season this year.   

She recommends checking the Snowman’s Reindeer Farm Facebook page or website at www.snowmansreindeer.com for updated information before visiting. 

—  For Canton couple, Snowman and reindeer are the perfect fit   —-