A hike in our stoat catch over July 2025 month suggests that the stoat population is increasing. This is expected, as the animals are at the end of their breeding season, and reemerging from dens in multiplied numbers. As we do each year, we've prepared for this, with more focus in high stoat activity areas from our trapping network.
Although we're seeing a current spike in the population, it's still not as high as it was during the same month in 2024 - even with an increase in trap checks in 2025! This is great news, as it broadly suggests we're catching them at a faster rate than they're able to breed.
In July 2025, we removed 144 stoats from Orkney, a drop from 191 during the same month last year. Our trap checks have increased in July 2025 compared to the same month in 2024.
Most stoats in July 2025 were removed in South-West Mainland. It's also the area where we recieved the most reported stoat sightings.
An area of particular interest for us at the moment is East Mainland and the linked isles. This area is where we are currently trialing technology we may use during the Mop Up phase of the project. This includes the use of thermal imaging cameras, thermal drones, and new trap housings. The mop up phase is best thought of as a 'detection' phase for the project - there will be greater focus on finding the final stoats, as opposed to actively catching in our trap network.
We would like to thank our community for their incredible effort and support, our volunteers, and the project team.