Rats were seen again on Terschelling after fifty years

Two dead rats were found on Terschelling for the first time in fifty years. Bad news, according to the town, which is asking residents and tourists to immediately report the discovery of a rat on the island report.

Although the rat has appeared on Terschelling before, it has not been seen there for decades. This makes it the only Wadden Island – and the only place in the Netherlands – where rats do not occur. “And we would like to keep it that way, because there is not much good to be expected from the rat,” said Terschelling councilor Bert Wassink at Omrop Fryslan.

He still doesn’t know how many rats there are on the island. “A few rats were seen No saw,” said Wassink, “So I think there’s a few more.”

It is suspected that the rats arrived on one of the ferries. Together with an ecologist, the city has now started a study on the size of the rat population. Additional wildlife cameras have also been installed.

Forest ranger Remi Hougee is glad that Wassink is taking his search for the rats seriously, as the animal can cause a lot of trouble. “In any case, it can be very difficult for breeding birds. Rats also go after breeding birds and their eggs. They just eat them,” he says. “Birds of the meadows, rooks, hedgehogs; every animal that is not happy with rats.”

When the rat appeared on Terschelling in the 1970s, the town used ermines to catch the animals. That worked well, until the number of stalks became too large.

“Then those ermines had to be captured again,” says Wassink. “There are many things to criticize about that method. So I don’t think we will do that again, but I would like to leave it to the experts.”