Guest blog from Anna Feeney, LIFE Raft Communications and Volunteer Development Manager
Somehow, after years of planning, boots on the ground (and sometimes dangling in the air), some major phases of the LIFE Raft project are coming to an end. The residential volunteers have left, with the climbers leaving on Thursday. Bait has been brought in, and the sheds are now full of old wax monitoring blocks. The active rat eradication part is coming to a close.
The project is far from over – we’ve still got months of monitoring before we know if there are any ferrets left on the island, and it won’t be until December 2026, after a full year and a half of checks, that we can confidently say that Rathlin is rat-free. And of course we now need to continue working with our partners and residents of Rathlin and Ballycastle to try and prevent the return of rats and any other invasive non-native species.
It might be, might, that this year’s seabirds are returning to an island that is ferret- and rat-free for the first time in hundreds of years – a safe breeding space once again. But, for now, all we know for sure is that LIFE Raft and the Rathlin community have given the seabirds the best possible chance at success.
We would like to say goodbye to many of the incredible team that have been on Rathlin over the autumn and winter. We have had residential volunteers, fieldworkers, groups of brilliant climbers, untold numbers of day volunteers and corporate groups, and huge groups of people behind the scenes making things happen. This is also the last day for me on the project as my contract comes to an end, and I am already looking forward to coming back and catching up with the incredible Rathlin community who have opened up their homes and their island to us all for so long. We are all incredibly grateful and will never forget Rathlin.
I want to finish by sharing some more pictures of the team from the past year and a half, through both the ferret and the rat eradication. Thanks to you all, to our partners and funders, and to the Rathlin community for everything.
Ric Else, one of the Field Team Leaders, checking a ferret trap
Tania McFaul, Charlie Bosanquet, and Rauri Morgan, aka ‘the residential team’ on their first day of going around the houses
The field team seeking refuge in the Branson Centre on Rathlin when the island lost power in Storm Eowyn
The last farewell to many of our residential volunteers
Helping residents remove unwanted items, which also helps remove harbourage for rats
Marta Rabanales Scott and Ric Else surveying the seabirds
Natasha Hamilton being taught by WMIL’s Biz Bell how to set a bait station
The last hike out of ‘the fingers’ for the climbing team
Eilidh Taylor, Field Worker, looking over the cliffs of Rathlin
Ulf Keller, Field Manager, with detection dog Woody being photographed by The Guardian
Irene Sabiniarz, Supporting Specialist, making one of the roughly 7,000 bait stations
Some of the amazing costumes made by the LIFE Raft team as part of a community-run workshop for St Patrick’s Day
And finally, a shot of one of my favourite days, out with Irene and others on the LIFE Raft team on a seabird survey. What a job.