War of attrition declared on mink menace
By David Ross in the Herald, 20 th July, 2001
A FIVE-year project costing £1.65m to eradicate the
American mink from the Uists and south Harris was launched yesterday by
Scottish Natural Heritage.
But in Lewis, where the predator has been active for decades, there were calls for crofters to be paid a bounty to trap mink.
The animals are alien to Britain but have been wild in Lewis and Harris since the 1960s, and have more recently spread south across the Sound of Harris to the Uists.
It is believed they were released or escaped from mink farms that were no longer commercially viable, but have continued to breed in the wild. There are now an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 in the Western Isles.
They pose a particular threat to native birdlife such as little common and arctic terns, black-throated and red-throated divers, and corncrake, which are protected under European law in five special protection areas in the Uists.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds fears that the bird population could be hit hard by mink, which also impact on crofting, angling, and fish farming in the area.
The project will create 11 new jobs - a manager and 10 trappers. Six trappers will work in North Uist and Benbecula and four in the south of Harris to prevent the recolonisation of the Uists. Traps will be checked daily and the mink will be humanely destroyed.
The announcement of the Hebridean Mink Project follows confirmation that the European Commission's LIFE nature fund will pay half the £1.65m cost. The remainder will come from Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB, the Scottish Executive, the islands council, enterprise bodies, and the York-based Central Science Laboratory.
David MacLennan, SNH area manager in the Western Isles, said: "The mink situation is very much a shared problem, spanning wildlife conservation, crofting, fisheries, and even tourism. It is in all our interests to find a solution.
"Unfortunately, experience of similar problems throughout the world tells us that the only permanent solution is eradication.
"Tackling the problem in the Uists and south Harris is hugely important.
"This will bring about short and long-term benefits for the Uists, particularly to the wild birds, which could now well be under serious threat.
"This information will also be crucial in evaluating the much bigger task of how wider eradication throughout Lewis and Harris can be approached."
However, some believe that the project should be accompanied by immediate action in Lewis.
Angus Graham, a councillor on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said he knows all about mink on his croft at Back in Lewis.
"I think that in addition to this project, crofters in Lewis and Harris should be paid a bounty of £20 or £30 for each mink they trap.
"Given the damage the mink are doing to the wildlife, I think it would be worth it and it would be worth the crofter spending time trapping four or five a week.
"Something has to be done. Although they don't touch lambs, nobody here can keep hens or chickens any more. The mink are like overgrown ferrets.
He added: "They killed my ducks. They dragged them through two fences and down a rabbit hole about 80 yards away, and started eating them from the inside.
"One mink even appeared in my neighbour's kitchen behind the washing machine. They are often to be found on fishing boats out in the harbour on a Sunday night. They are out of control."
© The Herald, 20 th July 2001
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