The use of poison against rats and mice has been severely restricted this year. How does that work now that autumn is wet and cold and the creatures want to come inside? “Rat teeth are harder than steel.”
The rat has its eyes closed and is holding on to Kees’ clamp with one paw. He is dead. Died in a black box on the edge of a granary in Nieuwolda.
Kees van ‘t Westeinde (37) from Zuidbroek removes the animal from the clamp. A brown rat: fond of wheat and probably looking for a dry and warm place in this wet autumn.
Next to the shed, pest manager Kees points out a rat corridor. At least a meter deep and looking for a way under the foundation. “That’s how strong the drive is.” With black plastic gloves, Kees picks up the dead rat and returns it to nature.
“There’s no poison in it.”
There is no longer a saucer of poison
It is the time of year when rats and mice move in. Or, as Kees puts it: ‘marching to the houses with backpacks on’. That in itself is nothing special, they have been doing that for centuries. However, since this year it has become more difficult to stop them. “Just putting down a saucer of poison is no longer an option.”
Since January 1, 2023, rats and mice in the Netherlands can no longer simply be controlled with poison. For private individuals, poisons based on anticoagulants (blood thinners) and cholecalciferol are prohibited because they can be dangerous to predators, birds and pets. In addition, there is a risk that the pests themselves will become resistant to it.
In some places it threatens to get out of hand
Professional pest controllers such as Kees are only allowed to use poison under strict conditions. Integrated Pest Management that’s called. First the risks are identified, then the arrival of rats and mice is preventively combated by, among other things, closing holes and removing food. If there is any inconvenience afterwards, traps and clamps will be placed. As a final option, the temporary use of poison is permitted.
Is it possible to keep pests under control in this animal and environmentally friendly way? Pest controllers are not sure. Some of them warn of an increase in nuisance. Kees, owner of VTW Plaagdierbeheer, also sees that things are in danger of getting out of hand in some places.
“Not that there are more rats and mice, but they are inside more often.”
Don’t kill indiscriminately
It’s twofold, he says behind the wheel in his gray van on the way to a customer in Nieuw-Scheemda. “Awareness is good. You first have to see where those creatures come from. Don’t kill indiscriminately. But theory and practice often diverge.”
In the farm in Nieuw-Scheemda, for example, he points out a wall that has subsided so much due to subsidence that there is a crack in it through which you can put your hand. “As long as there are holes like this, I can’t use poison here. But if you close this, there will be a new one in a few weeks.”
‘It is almost impossible to do in the city center’
It is not just force majeure that makes it almost impossible to close all holes and cracks. Preventive measures are more expensive than a pack of poison and often there is no money or will to invest in them.
“Take the student houses in Groningen. There you have linked properties with different owners. If you place clamps in one building, they enter through the other. This requires a joint approach, but what does an owner care if one student has a mouse in the room somewhere? This is almost impossible in the city center.”
VTW Pest Control is a growing company. Kees employs fifteen people and is still looking for employees. Due to all the strict regulations, approximately half of the work consists of administration. VTW Pest Control has thousands of private individuals and hundreds of business customers – industrial and many agricultural companies.
The freedom of the profession
Kees knows farming well: he lived on a farm in Nieuwolda as a child, his father and brother are true farmers. “I didn’t want to think about that: always being in one place. I first did the chef training, but that wasn’t it. One day I saw a man walking around a house and asked, what are you doing? So, pest control. The freedom appealed to me. And I think all the animals are beautiful.”
The farmer in Nieuw-Scheemda has a brand new wooden wheat barn next to the dilapidated old farm. A wildlife strip has been sown around it to promote biodiversity. “Very beautiful, of course,” says Kees. “The disadvantage is that rats also thrive in such a strip.”
Did everything possible
When constructing this shed, Kees therefore advised to leave space between the game strip and the shed. In addition, the shed is tightly sealed to prevent creeping in. “Everything possible has been done here,” says Kees. “And even then it remains difficult.”
He walks around the barn – the deer jump in the field – and looks for rat tracks in the game strip. “Rats almost always take the same path. They are almost blind, have no sphincter so they let everything go and have a fatty gland on their stomach that leaves a scent trail.”
He sees flattened grass (‘deer have lain here), a hole in the ground (‘a mole’) and a mouse darts by (‘field mouse, can’t hurt’). No rats.
Rat control was not that complicated on Kees’ parents’ farm. There used to be some poison in the straw, they had about three cats and his father has always been a decent man. “If there was a grain of wheat somewhere, he would clean it up.”
The neater and tighter, the less chance of rats and mice. But Kees also understands that this can be difficult for private individuals, especially if they have animals in the garden, for example, to keep track of things properly. A small hole is enough.
‘It went well when we used poison’
A private customer in Oostwold has a chicken coop at the back of the deep garden. Placed on concrete slabs, but the rats ate right through it. “The teeth of rats are harder than steel.”
The bird food in the run, the weeds in the garden: it is an ideal environment for rats and mice. A small inspection in the storage shed reveals an abandoned nest, many droppings and a dead rat in a basket.
“At first we used poison,” says the owner. “But that is no longer available. Now the rats are back.”
Bird of prey poles at the viaduct
On the way back to Zuidbroek, Kees drives over the A7 viaduct over the N33. He points to the bird of prey posts along the road. “We have set it up. The viaduct was gnawed to pieces by rats and mice. We advised shorter mowing and we placed those posts. We also often do this at farmers’ manure basins. The birds of prey keep it under control.”
It is possible: control pests in an environmentally friendly manner. But it is rarely as easy as a saucer of poison.