The drastic decline of the muskrat leads to a completely different way of working. Ten years ago it was hard work that progressed slowly, confirms fighter George Wildeboer. “You started at the front of the ditch and then just see how far you got. Sometimes you did a ditch in one day, sometimes three ditches, but certainly not for kilometers.”
Nowadays, fighters go into the water much less to set traps. They can therefore make meters with the quad. “That is a lot more efficient for us. We can cover a lot more kilometers than before.”
Some landowners are still shocked when they see the quads going along the ditch. But the water board has the right to inspect all watercourses, even if they do not cross its own land. In addition, farmers are often afraid of damage, but according to Wildeboer he has not experienced that yet.
The fight against the muskrat is therefore progressing steadily, but according to Johan Goos there is still a long way to go. In 2034, the animal must be driven to the national borders. “That is an agreement that has been made with all water boards in the Netherlands and there is still a considerable challenge to realize it, because not all water boards have it well under control.”