Wolf consultant: ‘Drentse sheep farmers are in denial’

“Weeks go by when I don’t have any appointments as a wolf consultant. I think sheep farmers are in denial. They have the idea that something is being done about the wolf. They think: that wolf will be gone before it can take my sheep attacks. I think this is a wrong idea. I am not a wolf expert, but there are perhaps forty to fifty wolves in the Netherlands now. These are packs that will partly reproduce, but they will also continue to come from Germany. If something is done about it, it will not happen soon,” says Mekel.

He notices that there are still many animals unprotected in Drenthe. “I drove 70 kilometers through Drenthe today and didn’t see a single wolf-resistant grid. I’ve seen all kinds of sheep, horses and cattle, but nowhere is it for each other.”

Gerrit Jan and Geertje Westerhof from Gees did engage him. They came up with the idea during a practical session for small-scale sheep and goat farmers that the wolf committee had given a week earlier. “We met Jaap there and he told us that he could come to us to give advice,” says Gerrit Jan.

They haven’t had a visit from the wolf yet. “Luckily I haven’t lost any sheep yet. I can’t imagine finding four or five sheep in the morning with the guts out. I now have fewer sheep and they are closer to home. At night they all go in the barn. I would rather keep my sheep outside. That is cheaper and better for the animals. But I don’t dare to do that anymore,” he says.

It feels better to have the sheep next to the house, says his wife Geertje. “It caused stress and tension when the sheep were further away. A few times a day he went to look at the sheep and then he came back relieved that they were still intact. When we get to the meadow and all those sheep are eaten there , then it will soon be over with sheep keeping, so that’s why we check with the wolf consultant whether we have a good fence.”

The fence is not yet wolf resistant. “You have eighty centimeters high mesh here with two live wires above it. If there is only wire mesh, the wolf may have a tendency to dig under it. There is only a wolf-resistant fence if there is a live wire at a maximum of 20 centimeters hanging off the ground,” says Mekel.

The Westerhof family will certainly act on the advice. “I’m going to have such a wolf-resistant grid installed. I can get a subsidy of 8,100 euros for a fixed fence and an additional 2,400 euros for a flex grid. I would like to add something to that myself,” says Gerrit Jan.

Mekel visits Robbert Waes in Oosterhesselen a few kilometers away. He was also present at the practical session of the wolf committee. “Our eldest son has sheep and the daughters have ponies. We have them for the hobby and not for food for the wolf. I don’t think it would be such a nice event if we come to the animals in the morning and there is one number eaten away. That would be a kind of family drama.”

The fence is not in order here either. “This plank is 35 centimeters from the ground. The wolf crawls under it in no time. There is still a need for a power wire at a maximum of twenty centimeters from the ground,” says Mekel. The wolf consultant recognizes that it is difficult to get the bottom wire to the right height, because there only needs to be a hole in the ground and then the height will soon be 25 centimeters. The wolf may then be able to get under it again.

Waes asks whether higher than 1.20 meters is better, because he has heard that wolves can also learn to jump. Mekel about this: “Keep it at 1.20 meters. Usually the wolf goes under. And deer can still jump over a fence of 1.20 meters. Those fences already block the passage for many animals, but let’s not make it more difficult for them than necessary to ward off the wolf.”

Waes is also going to work with the advice. “I’m not a fan of the wolf. But I realize that it is here now and that it will probably never go away. It was not necessary for me, but it is the way it is.” Should we then learn to live with the wolf? “I don’t think we have any other choice,” Waes concludes.