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THE RAT POPULATION of Great Saltee off Co Wexford will be eradicated under plans to protect seabirds living on the island.
Under a €50,000 plan, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) aims to rid Great Saltee of its rat population later this year.
The 120-acre island, located 5 kilometres off Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, is home to thousands of seabirds including Puffins, Manx Shearwaters and Gannets.
The NPWS, which undertook research of Great Saltee’s seabird population with University College Cork, now plans to hire a contractor to draw up a plan to eradicate the island’s rats, which pose a threat to the island’s seabirds.
“Saltee is one of the top 10 seabird colonies in the country,” says Dr. Stephen Newton, Senior Seabird Conservation Officer with Bird Watch Ireland.
“And it’s had very good monitoring of seabirds [for years],” he adds.
Yet rats threaten the seabird population on Great Saltee – which also includes Guillemots and Razorbills – because they eat bird eggs, thus reducing population levels. Smaller seabirds are more vulnerable.
The island is privately owned by the Neale family, who inherited Great Saltee after their father, the self-declared Prince Michael the First died in 1998.
From a European perspective, Ireland is an important sanctuary for seabirds due to our fish stocks and weather patterns.
For decades, seabirds conservationists have tracked population levels on Great Saltee, and the threats posed to migrating seabirds.
“Unfortunately most Irish islands that are inshore get rats,” says Newton.
“Sometimes it could be a historical shipwreck [that brings rats] 200, 300. More recently it might be fishing boats landing on islands and rocks that could be carrying rats,” says Newton.
“We also know that rats have a reasonable propensity to swim,” says Newton, adding that rats will swim out to an island if they think there’s a food source available.
Poisoning rats is easier than trying to trap them, says Newton. “You very rarely see them. They’re nocturnal, they live in the ground.”
Newton says that the eradication programme on Great Saltee will likely begin later this year.
“If you say you’re going to try poison a rat you don’t start in the middle of summer,” he said.
You try and hit them when their natural feed is at its lowest which is obviously in mid-winter.
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Maybe they could cull a few of the vermin in Leinster House.
@RobbieL: Sinn Fein TDs got voted into Leinster House in the same way as every other politician and your insults won’t change that fact.
@RobbieL: hilarious! Come up with that yourself
@RobbieL: holy Christ is there anything you cant compare to politics.
@RobbieL: what a dumb comment!
@KilkennyProud: Don’t vote FFG.
@KilkennyProud: knee cap the rats
@RobbieL: yawn
@Charles Coughlan: who are ffg, never seen that party.
@RobbieL: Jaysus your so witty. Did you come up with that one all by yourself or did you need help?
Why not hiring Yorkshire terriers instead – they’ve been bred to kill rats and it won’t cost €50k…
There’s a video online showing how a group of terriers found and killed over 600 rats within a few hours. Also – what if the birds eat that poison?
@Aga Grandowicz: Jack Russell dogs are the ratters. Also there’s a rat terrier. I agree, much better idea.
@Aga Grandowicz: reminds me of the cane toad story in Australia…..
@Aga Grandowicz: I dont think you have the correct breed of dog.
Took a boat trip around the Saltees some years ago. Highly underrated place. Stunning. It was a privilege to see so many wonderful species of seabirds in their natural enviornment.
Shame rats can’t be eradicated full stop, not sure why but I have an innate fear of rats.
@Aging Lothario: Rats are intelligent and even affectionate creatures that in studies have shown they will attempt to rescue a trapped rat instead of opting for a reward of chocolate or cheese instead.
They are vital to the eco-system of this planet.
They can be pests sure but so can pretty much any living being.
@Aging Lothario: Rats will only attack if cornered.
@Reuben Gray: the only good rat is a dead rat
NZ did the same for the Kakapo bird
Tremendous success
Nicest description of a Rat I’ve ever heard. God I hate rats!
A great place to visit this summer – no problem with social distancing- watching the gannet diving for fish is truly spectacular
Thanks
Could they not rid the whole country of them. I read somewhere that new Zealand is doing so. Have rats a purpose that is worthwhile to our ecosystem?
@Martin Duffy: the state of alberta in Canada is probably 10 times the physical size of Ireland and they are rat free. I’ve always imagined their really harsh winter temperatures play a part in that but that’s purely my own thoughts.
This will of course have negative consequences. The poison getting into the water, birds and other animals eating the poison. Rats are part of nature’s balance whether we like them or not.
As with most ecosystems , surely balance is important? Reduce the rat pop yes, but eradicate? The rat’s job is to keep the seabird population from overcrowding and maybe having an overall negative effect. Nature has checks on population growth . How to reduce the rats without introducing another puffin chick predator, very hard.
If they eradicate all the rats we will have no politicians
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