We continue to see a trend of less stoat activity in 2025 compared to 2024, despite an increase in the number of traps deployed and trap checks. This is good news, as it could be a sign that as our network becomes more intense, the stoat population is declining.
As the invasive non-native stoat population continues to fizzle out, they can be harder to find and catch. That's why it's important our trap network becomes tighter each year. We're also looking at ways we can improve our lures and monitoring.
Folk in East Mainland, Burray, and South Ronaldsay had the sharpest eyes in February 2025 with 6 stoat sightings. Reported sightings help us know where to focus our resources, and in response, it was also the area we deployed the most traps and made the most trap checks. Our team in North-West Mainland caught the most stoats, as they have done the past three months (January 2025 - November 2024). This may be due to the large amount of moorland areas, which is great habitat for stoats.
We would like to thank our community for their incredible effort and support, our volunteers, and the project team.