A Unique Christmas Gift

www.farmweeknow.com
Julie Root
2009-12-23

The zoo makes Christmas ornaments and necklaces from reindeer droppings. As Susi Ohley tells us, it goes through a process before they are sold. "Each little gem is a little dropping from the reindeer," says Ohley. "It is dehydrated and then it goes through an autoclave machine, so it is sanitized. Each one is hand drilled and painted."

Ohley says last year more than one-thousand ornaments were sold. She says that number has significantly increased this year, with requests coming from all over the United States and even the world.

So how did this idea come about? Ohley says a former zoo superintendent told them a story that gave them the idea to sell the reindeer gem ornaments and necklaces. "On Christmas Eve, his grandmother would take the grandchildren outside and make them sprinkle chocolate chips on the front lawn," Ohley says. "She would tell the kids that it would help Santa and his reindeer find their way to their home, because they would know they were reindeer friendly."

Ohley says Miller Park Zoo has two reindeer on site. She says all of the proceeds from the ornaments and necklaces go back to help the zoo. She says more than $20,000 worth of ornaments and necklaces were sold.

Ohley never dreamed this would take off like it did. Volunteers put together the necklaces and ornaments. Ohley says the reindeer droppings are typically gathered during certain times of the year. "Of course we can't do it this time of year because they are frozen," says Ohley. "It is too wet in the spring. This is only our second year. The first year we didn't start collecting the droppings until June. This year we started preparing the gems way sooner."

Ohley says if anyone wants to get onto an e-mail list to find out when the ornaments and necklaces will be sold next year, they can visit the Miller Park Zoo website for more information at millerparkzoo.org.


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