Better Places Fund - Project update: Mull Seasonal Wildlife and Visitor Engagement Ranger 2023
Paul Fraser, Wildlife and Visitor Engagement Ranger for the Mull & Iona Ranger Service
Having worked a ranger position in the Central Belt in 2022, I assumed I’d be able to hit the ground running on Mull. However, as any repeat seasonal ranger will tell you, every post is different.
We’re fortunate on Mull not to have major issues with litter. As visitors are usually here to seek quiet and isolation, there are few countryside locations where I am likely to encounter more than a dozen people at a time (my visitor “hotspots” tend to be miles-long stretches of shoreline, as opposed to picnic areas and playparks). Wild campers are usually truly responsible wild campers too, with only the occasional badly placed fire site to contend with. So, what necessitates a ranger posting on the island?
As anyone who has watched recent TV nature programming will know, Mull is one of the best - if not the best - places in the UK to watch wildlife. It’s difficult to go a day without encountering one of the two species of eagle who nest on the island. With over 300 miles of coastline, there’s plenty of opportunities to see seals (common or grey), numerous species of cetacean, and as many seabirds and waders as you can think of. Hen harriers glide low across roads, moving from one hunting ground to another, occasionally changing direction to dodge red deer on the undulating terrain. And then there’s the otters.
Engaging with visitors on Mull.
Information panels for visitors, about otters, eagles and the Scottish Outdoor Access code.
This current star species has received lots of coverage in recent years, resulting in an influx of visitors desperate to grab a sighting of these elusive animals. Their whereabouts are the one question I’m almost always asked (the answer ‘everywhere and nowhere’ is about as accurate a response as can be given, otters tending to hunt over many miles before spending the rest of their time hidden away from view). With this increase in visitor numbers, irresponsible behaviour was inevitable. Photographers creep ever closer, forcing otters from their territories. Routes to holts are blocked, sometimes splitting mothers from cubs. The habitats of other species are stumbles through, disturbing ground-nesting birds and, on many an occasion, crushing their eggs; further reducing the breeding success of wildlife already on the brink due to bird flu. Dogs are also a problem – their owners failing to realise these are important habitats, not just a playground.
A snipe.
A lapwing.
Meanwhile, the secondary issues can cause problems for residents and other visitors alike. Very slow-moving vehicles, passengers scanning the shore for signs of movement, can hold up workers getting from A to B on the island’s narrow single-track roads. Goslings and lambs are regular victims as drivers’ attention is diverted from the road in front of them. Passing places, and entrances to farms and residences, are misused as parking places, again causing traffic jams as vehicles suddenly appear from both directions. Tour operators sometimes unfairly take the blame - I regularly heard stories of victimisation; blamed for the poor behaviour of others who latched on to their client groups.
All these issues have become regular talking points on local Facebook groups. They rarely go a week without concerns for wild animal welfare – and rarely a day without stories of inappropriate driving and parking.
It is these behaviours I was employed to address, NatureScot’s Better Places Fund supporting my post during the busy months from May to September. My primary task is direct engagement with visitors, travelling the island in my wee ‘Mull & Iona Ranger Service’-branded Fabia to share otter-watching tips and advice. As this advice benefits spotter and animal alike – a happy otter is more likely to remain in the same place, after all – it was well received by most (give or take a few photographers who should know better!). Fortnightly drop-in sessions at the island’s wildlife hides allowed me to share this advice with a captive audience, as did alternate weeks’ themed guided walks.
Mull and Iona Ranger Service car travelling around the island.
Wildlife spotting from one of the island's hides.
As visitors tend to be dispersed widely across the island, visitor management was limited to signage where it was most needed. ‘No parking’, otter disturbance and eagle disturbance signs were installed in key areas, and a barrier was placed across an entrance to a prone white-tail nest site. I wrote monthly articles for the local newspaper and regularly posted wildlife advice to our Facebook page (more than ably assisted by a video featuring regular island visitor, Iolo Williams).
'No parking in the passing places' sign.
Barrier placed across the entrance to a protected nest site.
There was plenty of partnership working too. I took officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit on a tour of the island, discussing Mull-specific issues and learning how relevant legislation could be applied in the case of criminal offences. I spent days with local Police Scotland officers and resident representatives from the RSPB and Mull Otter Group. All were involved in a steering group I co-ordinated, alongside species experts from NatureScot and with input from Mull & Iona Community Trust and Mull Community Council. Following collation of national level advice from these stakeholders, local tour operators were brought onboard to discuss their own experiences and share how they best thought wildlife disturbance issues could be addressed. Working with this group, we created new otter-watching guidance: short bullet points, written in plain English and easily digestible by those with little experience of watching otters in the wild. We hope to print this up shortly and it is my hope it’ll be easily found when I next visit the island following season’s end!
Paul Fraser was the Wildlife and Visitor Engagement Ranger for the Mull & Iona Ranger Service during summer 2023. His position was funded by NatureScot through the Better Places Fund 4.
