Welcome to the fourteenth weekly stoat snippet!
These snippets will be a short update on progress with both the Orkney Native Wildlife Project and the Orkney Mainland Predator Invasion Biosecurity Project, as well as addressing any concerns that folk have raised with SNH and RSPB Scotland.
We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This will be the last stoat snippet of 2017 but we’ll be back with any news on 4 January. The SNH and RSPB Scotland offices will also be closed until 3rd January, but we will pick up voicemails and emails on our return. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the project and who cares about Orkney’s native wildlife as much as we do and once again wish you all the best for the festive season.
Orkney Native Wildlife Project
The trapping trial has officially started and has already caught some stoats. Trial traps have been set up in locations chosen to include a variety of habitats to represent the whole of Orkney and will be monitored over the coming months. You will remember that the aim is to perfect the method for trapping stoats so we have the best chance of complete success during the full eradication.
We were at Harray Hall on Friday for a drop-in community consultation event with children’s activities. The team were available to answer questions about the project and give folk who attended a chance to have their say about the development of the project. There are a lot more events in the New Year so please pop by.
Upcoming events:
To keep up-to-date with upcoming community consultation events, please take a look at our Facebook page or future blogs. For more information about these events, phone 01856 875302 or 01856 850176 or email north@snh.gov.uk or orkney@rspb.org.uk.
And if you haven’t already had the chance to do so, we’d be very grateful if you could fill out our community consultation questionnaire which is available online at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ONWP or as a paper version which can be found at various locations around Orkney.
Orkney Mainland Predator Invasion Biosecurity Project
The traps were checked last week and the next checks will be in January.
Potential incursion responses
Rousay: We would ask folk who live or visit Rousay to remember to get in touch if there is even the slightest suspicion that they have seen a stoat.
Hoy: The two staff are continuing to set up extra monitoring equipment on Hoy to cover a wider area to help us determine whether more than the one confirmed stoat is present on Hoy and how widespread they are. They haven’t caught or seen a stoat so far, but it is still too early to know if this is good news.
As ever, please could anyone living or visiting Hoy keep their eyes out for any possible stoat activity, and let us know immediately if you see anything suspicious.
Answering your concerns…
Remember, if you have any comments or concerns please contact north@snh.gov.uk or orkney@rspb.org.uk.
And don't forget to keep reporting any sightings of stoats, including those in winter coats, whether on the mainland or outer isles, as soon as possible, to SNH by calling 01856 886163, by emailing north@snh.gov.uk or through the ‘Stoats in Orkney’ Facebook page.
We will get back to you as soon as we can in the New Year.