Looking to add some literal life to your holiday event?
With Christmas a little over a month away, the Twisted Holly Reindeer Ranch in Rochester is offering reindeer rentals for events ranging from pumpkin patches and corn mazes to Christmas tree lightings and corporate holiday parties.
The animals can also attend holiday bazaars and parades.
Having opened in January, this is Twisted Holly Reindeer Ranch’s first year in business and renting reindeer.
The ranch has two 7-month-old reindeer, which were just received from a farm in Alaska, according to Twisted Holly Reindeer Ranch co-owner Teva Youngblood.
Both Youngblood and her partner, Barry Barcomb, are veterans. Barcomb was a staff sergeant in the Washington National Guard and Youngblood a master sergeant in the U.S. Army.
“We were both in the Army and actually both in Iraq at the same time in 2004, but we didn’t know it then,” Youngblood said.
On their website, there is currently an option to rent a petting station but Youngblood said they planned to remove that option, at least for this year’s holiday season.
“The reindeer are still very young and skittish. They aren’t that used to human interaction yet,” Youngblood said.
Their online scheduling calendar is open for 2023. Youngblood anticipates the rental of the petting station to launch next year as well. Customers can reserve dates for next year and after the new year, they will be able to add the petting station option if desired, Youngblood said.
Rates for rentals start at $1,200 for the first three hours, with each additional hour costing an extra $400 up to $2,800 for seven hours. The maximum rental time is eight hours at $3,000.
Aside from renting the reindeer out for traditional holiday events, custom requests to have reindeer at events like weddings, photo ops and birthday parties can be arranged.
The dates when the deer will be available are Nov. 25 through Dec. 31, but the business is currently fully booked on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.
For more information or to schedule a reindeer rental, call 253-677-7371 or send an email to owner@twistedhollyranch.com.
Learn more online at twistedhollyranch.com.
