THE storm petrel is, pound for pound, one of Scotland's most fascinating creatures.

The smallest of all seabirds - it ranges in size from 13-26cm - it spends the first five years of its life at sea, coming to land only when it is time to breed. And for those among its number who make the Shiant Isles the destination of choice, that is when its problems really begin.

The Shiants, a privately-owned island group in the Minch, east of Harris, are infested with black rats, which is bad news indeed for the petrels. Rattus rattus regards the petrel as a prime foodstuff.

Now, though, help may be at hand. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is close to completing its search for a specialist team to exterminate the Shiant rodents. Those charged with the task will be expected to spend a winter - when rat numbers plummet from a summer peak of 30,000 to between 1,000 and 3,000 - on the seek-and-destroy mission. We wish them luck - the world can always use more petrels, puffins and razorbills, and there is certainly no shortage of rats.

The method used will, we learn, involve poison. No doubt the howling winds would render any budding Pied Pipers pretty ineffectual.