Mink News and Updates
Latest News
Where are we?
We have had a very busy but successful first six months of 2010. The boat work required to trap remote areas of Lewis and Harris has gone well to date and the weather has, for a change, been relatively kind to us. The area to the south east of Lewis namely Lochs Claidh, Bhrolluim, Bhalamuis and Sealg are amongst the remotest parts of the UK, but we have put considerable efforts into trapping these areas with low numbers of mink being detected and trapped. We are currently trapping another very remote area Loch Reasort on the west coast of North Harris.
In order to ensure the safety of our trappers we use satellite 'SPOT' trackers to follow them on Google Maps. Follow our trappers here 
Tern colonies change distribution and productivity.
For the first time in many years the tern population of Lewis and Harris has reversed the trend towards fewer but larger colonies. Historical colony sites have been used for the first time in 15 years, in some instances, and the productivity of tern species within the colonies has greatly improved. Full details can be found in the RSPB Tern Report 2009 
for the Western Isles.
Trappers walk twice round the world in pursuit of mink!
The work of a trapper is often very arduous, between 10 and 26 km being walked each day for a week before moving on to the next trap line. If all the distance that the trappers have walked since the start of the project were added together we estimate that it is equivalent to walking twice round the world! The difficulty of the terrain and the weather conditions make this an even more remarkable feat.
Bulletins and Reports
Follow the progress of the project through our quarterly bulletins, from the beginning of phase one to the present.
Phase II
Phase I
Historical Bulletins and Technical annexes can be obtained by contacting the project manager iain.macleod@snh.gov.uk