(upbeat music) - Welcome to A Shot of Ag.

My name is Rob Sharkey, I'm the host.

I'm a fifth-generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

I started a podcast which led into XM radio, which led into a national radio show, which led into a national television show, which led to me being right here.

But today is not about me.

Today is about Julie Hardy.

How are you doing, Julie?

- I am really excited to be here and working with you, Rob.

I'm doing great today.

- I'm excited too.

You've got a lot of energy.

- Oh, life keeps you young sometimes.

- All right, Julie Hardy.

You're from Rantoul, which is where?

- Rantoul is just north of Champaign-Urbana.

- Okay.

And you are with Hardy's Reindeer Ranch.

- Yes, sir.

- Yeah.

Which would explain what we've got here.

I mean, I don't know what it looks like on TV.

Kinda looks like something's trying to grab me.

- That's an amazing antler, it really is.

But you know, it's the, we have 22 reindeer in the herd, so.

- 22?

- 22 in the herd.

Just had five brand new babies and they are so cute when they're born.

- What is a baby reindeer called?

- They're called calves.

They're actually ruminants, so they're bulls, cows, and calves.

- Oh, they're not bucks and does?

- No, no, not at all, not at all.

- We're here to teach.

- You learn something new every day, right?

- Okay, let's start from the beginning, right?

Now, did you grow up on a reindeer ranch?

- Not at all.

Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would raise reindeer for a living.

This looks great on my resume.

You know, I can milk a reindeer, you know?

Not many people can, right?

- Yeah, I'm sorry, what?

You can milk a reindeer?

- I can milk a reindeer.

Sometimes you have to do it.

But so they're, again, they're so unique, and it's kind of was a marketing idea.

I'm a city girl with a marketing background.

- [Rob] Where'd you grow up?

- Champaign-Urbana.

- [Rob] Okay.

- But you know, marketing was more of my expertise, and left a job at Mad Men and married a farmer in Rantoul who had a small Christmas tree farm.

- Whoa, okay.

So you went from literally like a Mad Men advertising agency.

It's almost like, what's the show where?

- Green Acres.

- Green Acres, yeah.

- I know my Green Acres, yes.

- Please don't email that I couldn't remember the name of that show.

- I'll start, don't get me singing that song, all right?

I watch the show every day, I love it.

♪ Green acres ♪ ♪ Farm living ♪ Okay.

- So you left there, you met a farmer?

- Yes.

Fell in love?

- Yes.

- Married, and okay, that's still quite a jump from being a reindeer baron.

- I was, you know, going from a fast pace to a farm girl, it was like, okay, I was, you know, even though I loved farm life and living in the country, I was absolutely going kind of stir crazy.

And then I thought I'm either gonna go to the city and get a job or I'm gonna have to do something here on the farm, a very, very small family farm.

So not many acres.

And I'm thinking how to market a Christmas tree farm in kind of the middle of nowhere, in my opinion.

- It is kinda mid, I mean, yeah, there's not a real big city around is there?

- Well, Champaign-Urbana is.

And the University of Illinois is, you know, there's a lot of people in that area.

- College kids don't buy Christmas trees.

- Not much, but it's I knew Christmas trees was gonna be kind of a family attraction.

You know, there's gonna be a lot of families that want to come in to buy a Christmas tree.

So we tore down three old barns in the area, reconstructed a gift shop that's made out of three old barns.

- [Rob] Did the owners know that?

- We snuck in at night, you know?

No, yes, of course they did.

But anyway, heated with a potbelly stove, so it's really got a lot of country charm.

- Heat what with a potbelly stove?

- We actually heat our gift shop with a potbelly stove.

- Okay.

- I have to split a lot of firewood.

- Oh, so it's actually, you're throwing logs in there?

- Uh-huh.

- All right.

- Yep.

- It's a lot easier to hit the switch with the LP gas.

- Yeah, sure, I mean, I appreciate my furnace when I go in the house at night, yeah.

- [Rob] Yeah, I get it.

- Yeah, but the reindeer was, again, a marketing idea, thinking, you know, well, you know.

First of all, I didn't even know reindeer exist.

A lot of folks don't know reindeer exist.

They think it's like oh- - Who doesn't know reindeer exist?

- Oh, well, now there's a lot of people, believe it.

- Have they never heard of Santa Claus?

- But that's it, they think they're fictional.

They think reindeer are fictional or, you know, that it's a white-tail deer that I'm calling a reindeer.

- Is Santa Claus fictional?

- I'm not gonna go there.

I won't go there.

But it's, I am so used to seeing reindeer, and again, much different.

They're a cousin of the caribou, not at all related to a white-tail deer.

- But people think that's what you have.

You just have white-tails that fly.

- I mean, I will guarantee you, and these are a lot of, we bring senior tour buses in and I'll get a lot of seniors that go, "Oh, I've got reindeer in my backyard."

I'm going, no, let me explain this, you know?

- They think because they see a deer in their backyard they think it's Santa's.

- And they look so, it's like I see a white-tail deer now and I think, well, those are really goofy looking animals.

I'm so used to seeing reindeer and they don't look anything like a white-tail deer.

- Well, I mean, that's not very fair to the white-tail.

- It's not, it's not very nice.

But I think reindeer are cuter, so, just saying.

- I did a little research.

- All right, what'd you find out, Rob?

- So in 284 A.D., Constantine the Great was the emperor or dictator, pres, I don't know what they were.

I think they were emperors.

- Okay.

- And he didn't get a Christmas present.

So he said, Santa can't get around to the world.

So he said, "I'm going to give all my emperoral powers "to the deer for one day.

"So for one day I won't be emperor, "but these deer will be, "they can reign as an emperor for one day."

And that's why they call them reindeer.

- Oh, that's great.

I want, have you got this in print?

- Well, I mean, I wrote it.

- That's a really good story.

That's one I haven't heard before, Rob.

- Well, it's the truth.

- I gotta hand it to you.

- We're on PBS, I mean, that's what they do, they- - Would you lie to me?

No.

- All right.

- Okay, so, you know, reindeer really do fly, though?

I do like to tell these stories when people come to visit my farm.

- [Rob] I mean, they don't, but what are you talking about?

- Well, reindeer really do fly.

So my husband and I went to Alaska, we lived on a reindeer farm in Palmer, Alaska.

They had 250 reindeer.

But they built shipping crates to fit the opening of a 747.

And so the only time that they could fit them in the shipping crate was when their antlers fall off.

And by the way, males and females both have antlers.

So very, very different.

- Oh, that explains Vixen.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yes, there you go, you're getting it.

- Stuff's coming together.

- I actually have a Vixen on my farm who just had a baby named Cupid.

So there you go.

- Well, was Cupid, is Cupid a girl's name?

- Yes, well, it is now, on my farm it is.

- See, that's what I like.

Everybody's all like- - Hey, it is on my farm.

- Oh, yeah, all the big strong men, reindeer are pulling Santa's sleigh.

- Uh-uh, you're learning something today.

Vixen's pulling just along as well as everybody else.

- We did fly them in from Alaska on an airplane.

So they do fly.

But this is really cool, 'cause a lot of people don't know this.

I always ask everybody what kind of weather reindeer like, and they love snow, of course.

But they get very excited, they can predict a snow storm for us.

Because about an hour, an hour and a half before the first snowfall comes- - Who can?

- They do, the reindeer do.

They do a reindeer dance.

And in Alaska it's called a reindeer dance.

They know snow is coming.

They start leaping and prancing and dancing.

And they (whooshing).

It looks like, it would look like the narration of that leaping twisting reindeer.

And they'll do it an hour to an hour and a half before a snow comes in because they know it's coming.

That's pretty magical.

I don't care who you are.

That's pretty cool, right?

- Okay, you were making fun of me for the Constantine the Great story.

And now you're telling me this.

- Well, this is true, this is true.

- [Rob] They really do?

- They do, it's magical.

And so you're only gonna catch a reindeer dance- - [Rob] Is it written down somewhere?

- Well.

- You need to get video of that.

- I'll have to send you, you know, every time I run in to get my phone to video it, I come back and they're not doing it anymore.

- Yeah, just like everybody that's seen Bigfoot.

- Yeah, they don't do it anymore.

I don't think he believes me.

- Well, you didn't believe my story.

You seem like someone that's not very content just to sit down.

- Oh, you don't want me, no, too much time on my hands is not a good thing.

- Okay, you got a lot of energy.

- It takes a lot of energy.

And you know, we open in September.

So we have a fall season, we have a Christmas season.

And it's amazing because thousands of visitors come in just to see the reindeer, like a Christmas tree farm, the Christmas tree farm.

- Are you still selling the Christmas trees?

- We are phasing out of the cut your own.

- Of the what?

- Cut your own Christmas trees.

- Oh, cut, okay.

- And we still have Christmas trees for sale.

And that's what we started as.

- Oh, you just go to Menards and buy them and then resell them?

- Not necessarily.

It's, no.

- Okay.

- But we're kinda phasing out of that a little bit.

But more people come in just to see the reindeer than anything.

And we actually bring tour buses in from all over the nation.

- [Rob] Just to see reindeer.

- I've got one coming, got one coming in August from Oklahoma.

We have a banquet hall that's like a Wild West saloon.

And we do dinner shows.

Alaskan reindeer ranch, Wild West chuckwagon barbecue on a Midwest farm.

- What kind of shows?

- That's marketing.

- Well, yeah.

Are we, are you have the deer dance or?

- We have a, we built a bank, just for something unique.

The reindeer from Alaska are so unique we thought, "Well, we've got buses that want to come in.

"Let's build a dining room "that's something you don't find in the Midwest."

And so it's tin plates, bandana napkins, looks like a Wild West saloon and we have great entertainers on stage.

But tour buses come in.

And the, what I'm leading to is the adults are more fascinated with the reindeer than the kids are because they find it, of course, very educational.

How do you raise a reindeer in central Illinois when it's not done?

- Kids just want to play Fortnite and stuff.

- They just go, yeah, big deal, it's Santa's reindeer.

- Yeah, it's a deer.

- But the adults are more fascinated with how we raise them.

- I am too, because I would think it would be too hot down here.

- Yeah, it gets warm.

But then they can handle normal Illinois summers.

- They can?

- Yep.

As long as they are in a barn, they handle it just fine.

It will never get cold enough for them though.

They can handle whatever kind of cold we get.

- So when did you bring these in to the States?

Or to the lower States?

- Oh gosh, we've been open for 26 years this year.

- Okay.

If somebody want to started this now I imagine there's gotta be a lot more red tape, right?

- A lot more red tape.

It's almost getting close to impossible.

There's actually a shortage of reindeer right now.

Not only in the lower 48 states, but the herd that I got them out of Alaska has been depleted quite a bit.

- [Rob] By what?

Bears?

- No, there have just been so many people that have been wanting them.

- [Rob] Oh, I gotcha.

- And a lot of people will get into this for the novelty of it, because they are a wonderful animals.

I mean, it was love at first sight when I first saw one.

But if you don't really research on how to care for them properly, you'll lose them.

So it's taken us a lot of years of finding out their healthcare, how to care for them properly.

Vaccinate them.

- Yeah, I can't imagine there's a book, right?

Raising deer and reindeer in Illinois.

- Well, we studied reindeer ranching in Alaska, but what works in Alaska doesn't work in Illinois.

So again, you've had to kinda refigure it.

- Do you remember calling your vet the first time?

Hey, we got a sick reindeer.

Come on out here.

- Oh, what?

You got a what?

- Okay, that's, I mean, it's fascinating to me that you would, because this had to be quite a leap of faith.

Because I can't imagine you're flying reindeer from Alaska to Illinois.

That can't be cheap.

- My husband, it took a lot of convincing and we had a few arguments or discussions about the, and honestly, it was a very large, it was large investment.

It was a very risky venture.

But we had studied enough about them or learned as much as we possibly could about them before we jumped totally into this.

- But you won the argument.

- Yeah.

- I believe you.

- And a few others, but anyway, yeah.

- I believe that too.

- But anyway, he absolutely, he used to milk cows and you know, he used to call raising livestock, livestock.

I said, "They're not livestock, they're pets."

- Well, I mean, they're kind of livestock.

- And now he talks to them just like I do.

- Are they nice?

Are they mean?

- Oh, well, they're nice until like this magical time of the year which is called rut season.

- [Rob] The rut, yeah.

When they get all.

- That's one similarity between a white-tail deer and a reindeer.

- They get all randy and mean.

- Ooh, yes, they get pretty, pretty nasty.

- Just the- - The bulls, yep, just the bulls.

- The cows don't get all mean.

- Uh-uh.

- Okay.

Is there a lot of reindeer related deaths?

I mean, do they, when they get out and they, you know, attack, 'cause I've heard stories.

- Well, reindeer are domesticated caribou, and they're, really, you don't find them running around, you know, like up in Alaska you'll find caribou running around.

But reindeer are domesticated and you don't normally find them loose running around unless it's an accident, you know?

So, but yeah, you know, most honestly, a bull in rut would kill you.

- Well, look at this thing.

- Well, and that's actually a small antler, so I'm, really quickly- - This is a small antler?

- Really quickly, the males and the females have antlers.

The males are the boss because they have the big antlers.

Females have smaller antlers.

Now, males drop their antlers at the end of the year after rut season is done.

They aren't the boss anymore.

It's payback time.

All the girls get even with them.

Females do not lose their antlers until they have their babies in the spring.

- It seems like you enjoy that a little too much.

- I kind of really do, I had to tell you that, Rob.

I really did.

I thought you'd enjoy it as well.

But, you could, anyway, it's just, okay.

All right, we'll leave that one alone for now.

- Anywho, yeah, okay.

You have them, pets.

I know you talked about like giving them graham crackers of all things.

They like graham crackers?

- They absolutely, they will give you a kiss for a cookie.

And so right now with the new babies, the new babies, when they're born, and it's like, I'll pick them up the first day they're born and give them their birthday hug.

And from that point, I just spend hours out in the pen to where I can start petting them.

And I have them trained to come up to me, that I'm safe, you know?

And it takes a lot, I mean, it takes time.

I mean, they are domesticated animals, but you really need to spend time with them.

Just probably like any other animal.

But they do like cookies.

And so if you come out to do this reindeer experience tour at Hardy's Reindeer Ranch, you'll get a graham cracker or two.

When you put the graham cracker in your mouth you'll get a big wet reindeer kiss.

- Oh, okay.

- Doesn't that sound great?

- And people do that?

- Well, sure.

- And people pay you to do that?

- Yeah, and it's really funny.

We'll get a lot of adults out there and they'll be raising their hand, can I have another cookie?

- They like it?

- Uh-huh.

- That says a lot about your guests.

- Now, now, now, now.

- This is a business, though.

I mean, to go out and see your reindeer, no, I'm not, no, I think it's fantastic.

But people can't just stop by and see your reindeer.

- No, no, we open in September and we charge for the reindeer experience tour.

And like I said, well, you know, it's not just going out and actually getting kind of up close and personal with the reindeer.

It's more getting educated about them.

But you know, you can touch their noses, they'll eat oats out of your hand.

But it's kind of telling our story.

And we actually have in the tour area, the actual shipping crate they built in Alaska to fit the opening of the 747.

- Oh, it's not like a shipping container like you see on a?

- Well, it's a big wooden crate.

- Oh, I gotcha.

- But it was, the only time you could ship them in was when their antlers came off, and so.

- But the female antlers don't come off.

- Mm-hmm, they come off.

They do, they come off in the spring and the males in the, you know.

- All right, that's rather confusing.

But we'll just go with it.

- Okay.

- Okay, tell me about like the problems that you ran into because raising them in Alaska and raising them here completely different, different diets, different diseases.

- Absolutely, and both of those were kind of our toughest issues, you know?

I mean, up in Alaska they had 250 reindeer on that ranch.

And then he showed, he went around to different breweries and got the brewer's mash.

I can't do that with a smaller herd.

So we were trying to feed them like you would a cow, and the diet was not working for them.

They have to, you know, their normal diet would be moss and lichens on the tundra.

And I don't have that here in Illinois.

So we really had to get a diet that would match that.

- Purina reindeer chow.

- Well, and Purina does make a reindeer chow.

- See, everybody is laughing at me right there.

- So you weren't so far off on that.

You weren't so off.

- Yeah.

- But we actually have a feed mill that, and a special recipe that has been working for a few other reindeer breeders that we do and lots and lots of fiber.

Lots and lots of fiber.

- And graham crackers.

- Well, and graham crackers are good for them.

- They got fiber probably somewhere.

- Well, yeah.

- Okay.

- Actually, in Europe, they are called digestive biscuits, just so you know, graham crackers.

- This learning is so much fun.

- I know, isn't this great?

- All right, all right, let's switch gears a little bit because reindeer are not all that you guys have on your ranch too.

You've got the corn mazes.

So how did this all start up?

- Okay, so we've been doing corn mazes on the, this is about a 10-acre field right here.

- So the, right, yeah, with all this.

This is your house right there?

- No, that is actually, it's a paintball shooting gallery and this is a race car track, just one of the attractions we have there.

- You guys do everything.

- Got a little bit of everything going.

So it's really- - where's your Ferris wheel?

It's a fall, I haven't got that.

It's kind of a fall and Christmas business.

So fall, now these corn mazes, that's 10 acres again.

- Which is kind of close to 10 football fields.

Not quite, but yeah.

But that's how big it is.

- Thank you, yeah.

I can go in with a map and I can't get out of my own maze.

I have no sense of direction, so.

But our corn maze is, so I'm not going in there.

I'll send you in there, but I'm not doing it.

You go in there and it's like you're not just trying to get through the corn.

There's like different hidden checkpoints you're supposed to find, and it'll say you're here.

And it's, every year we'll have people come out and say, "What do you got for me this year?"

Because they know that we do really challenging mazes.

- Well, every year it's not that design, right?

- Yeah, different designs.

And the more dead ends you put in it, the harder it is to do, or the more cornfusing, ha, that was a bad one.

Don't say cornfuse again.

- Cornfusing.

- Yeah.

- Okay, and they think I say bad jokes.

- I know, I was gonna see if you liked that one.

- Do you ever think about like letting the people go in the corn maze and then say like, all right, you get a two-minute start and then we're gonna release the reindeer?

- No.

- No?

- No, that wouldn't be a good idea.

- It'd be, it would be entertaining.

- I do tell people sometimes that they'll go in there because we don't harvest our corn maze until like Thanksgiving, around Thanksgiving, middle of November.

We'll keep the corn maze up until then.

So it's really funny because they're harvesting all the, you know, the crops all around us, you know, and I'll sell people corn maze tickets, and I'll say, "Well, if you hear a combine run for your life."

- Oh, that's.

- It's pretty cruel.

- I was gonna say that's mean, but actually it's really funny.

- It's kinda funny.

I tell them it is a joke before they go in there.

- How do you decide what the design is gonna be?

- Oh, gosh, we've been doing different designs for 20 years.

And so it sometimes it's kind of hard to come up with something different.

- You could do A Shot of Ag logo.

That would be, there's a lot of dead ends with that one.

- But it's an L-shaped field.

So my husband has to draw a design that will fit into that L-shaped field.

And last year was because it's just, it was a mermaid theme or nautical theme.

This year, this year's maze, I'm just excited about it.

In Mexico, it's a very big celebration, Day of the Dead theme.

- They made a cartoon about that.

- Pardon me?

- They made a cartoon about that.

I can't think of the name.

But I know what you're talking about because of Disney.

- Yeah, with the skeleton?

- Yeah.

- Oh, "Coco," the movie.

- Yeah, something, I don't know.

- Been very popular movie, but it is, it's a very, it's a big celebration, a joyful celebration.

And so I think, and anyway, the design of the maze is gonna be very difficult this year and just a fun theme.

It's a fun theme.

- Whoa, you did a corn maze where people get lost and the theme is Day of the Dead.

- Yeah, oh, yes, yes, that will be kinda hard on people.

Now, also too, we do moonlight mazes.

So people come out at nighttime.

- Do they get lights?

- No.

Well, they're supposed to bring their own.

They'll, a lot of times they use your or use their phone flashlight.

- Oh, that burns the battery.

That's never good.

And then we get a lot lost cell phones in the maze.

- There's a fee to get them back.

- Yeah, right, definitely.

Especially if I have to go looking for it, right?

- That, what's the biggest attraction do you think, out of everything you do?

- The reindeer.

- The reindeer.

- Even in the fall.

But you know, a lot of local, a lot of locally people have seen the reindeer.

Even if you think at Christmastime, oh, that's the only thing you do at Christmastime is go see reindeer.

But even in the fall, people, I want to do the reindeer tour, I want to do the corn maze.

We got hayrides.

We got a paintball shooting gallery.

We've got, anyway.

So anyway, there are just a lot of different activities you can do.

But a lot of people really want, I mean, even in the fall, I want to go see the reindeer.

- Yeah, I would want to, I want to see the reindeer.

- Now, a lot of people, we don't open until September, but the babies, when they're born are only eight to 10 pounds.

- You would think maybe I could get on a little earlier.

Just 'cause, you know, you've been on the show and everything.

- You'll get, I'll get you a special pass, special ticket.

- Apparently not.

Well, if people do want to find it, where do they go, like social media-wise?

- Look at my Facebook page.

- [Rob] You got a Facebook.

- A Facebook page.

And then ReindeerRanch.com is our website.

- Oh, that's clever.

But that's part of that marketing, yeah.

So as you look back, right, you were working for Don Draper at a marketing agency.

You fell in love with this farmer.

Would you do everything again?

Would you go with the reindeer again or would you do something else?

- Oh, 100%.

And then, you know what it is, there's been some painful learning curves on trying to get learning, you know, as far as their healthcare, getting things right and getting it down.

But we just adore what we do.

We are really, we really like, you know, it's not just a tourist attraction.

We really care about these animals.

They are wonderful animals.

And the fact- - I can tell that.

I can tell you're not lying.

- You can tell I like them, yeah.

You can tell I like them.

- You probably get people in there that think they're funny and are like talking about hunting them or something.

You probably don't appreciate that do you?

- No, and don't really much, no.

I don't care for that story very much.

But you know, it is a lot of work.

We, you know, we have a 22 in the herd and, you know, we have to run them through a squeeze chute, all their, give them a pedicure.

They got great big hooves.

You have to clip their hooves and.

- [Rob] You do?

- Yeah, they got great big huge hooves, which make good snowshoes.

- Oh, well that, well, that makes perfect sense.

- Yep, makes good snowshoes.

But yeah, there is some work involved with taking care of them.

- Well, I can imagine it's just like any other livestock pets or whatever.

There's a lot of work.

My wife's got a dog about this big.

You would not believe how much work it takes.

- No, I probably wouldn't.

I guess, I'm trying to think.

- No, I'm not a fan of it.

I'm not a fan of the dog.

But I would like to see your reindeer.

I'm not gonna do the thing where I put a graham cracker in my, I'll hold it in my hand, but I'm not gonna, no.

- Yes, you will.

- That's a little.

- You've got to, you've gotta try it.

- It's getting up in my personals, you know what I'm saying?

- I'll let you kiss one of the female deer, if that would make you happier.

- That actually does not make any difference to me.

- Okay.

- No, I'm.

- Cupid, how about Cupid or Vixen?

- No, no, the result would be the same.

I think it's very neat because obviously, you know, corn and soybeans rule Illinois with the agriculture.

I mean, that's what people do.

To find ways to get around it and to do like this agritourism, honestly, I think it's genius what you've done.

- Well, thank you so much.

And it is a very, you know, very small family farm and to, again, to take something like that and market it to where we bring tour buses in from all over the nation.

- How do they find you?

- Oh, I do a lot of tourism trade shows where I market this to the tour bus companies.

- Oh, that's going back to the marketing, huh?

- Going back to the marketing.

- And again, it's not just, yes, being good at marketing, but it is what my attraction is so unique.

It's nobody expects to find reindeer in, on a farm in central Illinois, you know?

So it is just, I get it, very, very unique.

- [Rob] Have you thought about bringing something else on?

- No.

Well, yeah, because I am a big animal lover, you know?

It's like, tell my husband, "Well, I really like penguins.

"They're pretty cute."

But he won't let me have penguins I got 22 reindeer.

He had to be happy, I oughta stick with that.

- You won the fight with the reindeer.

I think I'd let him win the fight with the penguins.

They don't fly, like reindeer, they don't fly.

- Yeah, the waddle, yeah right.

- I would go see a penguin farm though.

- Yeah, I'd like to say we had, yeah.

And I guess, 'cause we're really, really cautious about.

- [Rob] They don't have reindeer at the zoo do they?

At the Peoria Zoo?

- I don't know if they- - I don't know either.

- I don't know if they do or not.

- Nobody else, nobody here knows either.

- I like it that we keep our animals on enough pasture so that they can graze naturally, that they have a lot of space to do the reindeer dance.

- Well, you don't want to be a- - Run and leap and jump and play.

- Would you want to be a reindeer living next to a tiger?

- No, that'd be a little scary if I was a reindeer.

- You're darn right it would be.

- Yeah.

- All right, so when can I come?

- Ah, you can come anytime.

I'll get you lost in the corn maze.

- Okay.

I mean, not right now, because as we're filming it's pretty short.

- Not right now, no.

The corn's this tall, I mean, you couldn't really get lost in the cornfield.

- Can we bring the PBS crew?

- Sure.

- Okay, all of them?

- I would love it, I would love it.

- You obviously have not met these guys.

- I will give you your own private tour, I promise.

- Oh, that's fantastic.

- I would love it.

- Okay, once again, the website is?

- ReindeerRanch.com.

- Okay, I'm gonna, I am gonna show up.

It's not that far from Bradford.

- No, it's not, it's not.

It's certainly worth the trip.

It really is worth the trip.

I came all the way to your studio to see you.

So I expect you to come and see me at the reindeer ranch, okay?

- Okay, very much.

Julie Hardy from the Hardy's Reindeer Ranch.

Go check it out.

Julie, thank you so much.

- Oh, it's been my pleasure.

- For being here.

And everybody else.

We'll catch you next week.

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