There has been an active Least Tern colony at the end of Shell Beach for many years consisting of at least 25 pairs. This year the colony was wiped out by one or more raccoons. For some reason the raccoon population on the island has boomed. There are so many of them around, that on a walk of 2-3 miles it is not uncommon to see 3-5. My colony of Purple Martins was attacked two nights ago, suffering a loss of 60% of the nests. If anyone has any ideas on what to do about this situation please e-mail me directly. Orhan Birol Shelter Island
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