THE £1M RAT TRAP
IT has taken determination, peanut butter – and a whopping £1 million of public money.
But conservationists believe they have now completed the most difficult and expensive rat cull ever.
After braving foul weather to bait and check hundreds of traps, a team has managed to clear thousands of black rats from the uninhabited Shiant Islands in the Outer Hebrides.
Around a century ago, the rodents colonised the islands after escaping from a shipwrecked vessel. As their population expanded, they threatened the islands’ native birds.
Last year, a team led by the RSPB began a massive operation to drive out the invaders, using traps laced with chocolate and peanut butter.
A project update in a newsletter produced by the charity states: ‘An overwhelming sense of “we made it” was felt at the end of March as the eradication team left the Shiant Isles after five months’ work.
‘As if living and working on the Shiants, 20 miles and an hour boat journey from Stornoway wasn’t challenging enough, the team faced storm-force 12 winds and the wettest winter since records began back in 1910.
‘Occasional days of good weather were punctuated with healthy doses of horizontal hail, waves spraying the windows of the bothy and long winter nights. No wonder no one had spent a winter on the Shiants for more than 100 years! The last confirmed rat sign came just before Christmas. Although we are quietly confident this means the operation was a success... we will need to wait for two years before we can officially declare the islands rat-free.
‘In that intervening period we will continue to check exhaustively to ensure no rats remain or arrive.’
More than 150,000 seabirds gather on the islands to breed each year.
But a survey in April 2012 estimated there were also around 3,600 rats. The number increased to around 10,000 in summer months when more food was available.
A study in 1998 found that 68 per cent of the rats captured there had consumed feathers and quills. The island group, owned by the family of author Adam Nicolson, is one of the most important seabird breeding sites in Europe and has been designated a Special Protection Area for Wild Birds. It supports 10 per cent of the UK’s puffin population and 7 per cent of its razorbills.
A spokeswoman for RSPB Scotland defended the £1 million bill, saying it covered the entirety of the four-year project, including survey work, the eradication stage and ongoing monitoring.
She added: ‘The funding covers all materials, transport to and from the islands, bringing in pre-fabricated cabins for the eradication team to live in over the winter, and all other costs associated with the project.’