A two-year-old detection dog is the latest recruit to join the LIFE Raft project on Rathlin Island and he is on a mission to save birds.
Woddy, a Fox Red Labrador nicknamed ‘The Unit’, is joining the team to help find any remaining ferrets on Rathlin Island. Both ferrets and rats are invasive non-native species and they have been wreaking havoc on internationally-important seabird populations.
The LIFE Raft, a project led by RSPB NI and the Rathlin Development Community Association (RDCA), aims to restore seabird colonies on the island. Puffins, Guillemots, and other seabirds have seen their numbers decimated in recent years, with only one in three Puffin chicks surviving last year.
The team opened ferret traps in October 2023, and having caught 98 since is on track to eradicate the invasive species from Rathlin.
Woddy arrived on Rathlin on Tuesday 7 and led by his handler, LIFE Raft Fieldwork Manager Michael Rafferty, Woody will set off on his first day at work on Wednesday.
After his summer spent ferret-finding, Woody will likely be retrained to tackle the next threat: brown rats. This second invasive non-native species found their way to the island in the 1800s, and like ferrets they have found ground-nesting birds to be easy prey.