Worries about a growing rat population have prompted the Wadden Sea island of Terschelling to appoint a rat shooter, the Telegraaf has reported.

Terschelling had been rat-free for 50 years when in August this year locals started spotting the rodents. Since the first sightings rat numbers have increased to alarming levels. Islanders also fear digging rats may weaken dykes.

Traps have not helped and poison has been banned since 2023. Using stoats or foxes, which prey on rats, is not an option either because they would also damage the bird population, the island’s official rat shooter Jos Kruis told the paper.

Kruis, who set up a foundation promoting ecological ways of getting rid of rats, said owls, which eat baby rats, could help keep the rat population down, along with shooting them.

Shooting rats with an air rifle is the most effective method, Kruis said. “The rifles have night vision scopes which calculate the trajectory. It’s very hard to miss. If you train people properly it’s a job, not an art. You almost had to be an Olympic level shooter before we had this equipment,” he said.

“We don’t know if we can eradicate the rats completely but we will certainly try,” he said. Kruis will train five locals to take over the job. “They will be acting like a rat fire brigade, ready to go at any moment to where one has been spotted,” he said.

The rats are thought to have come to the island via one of the many ships that dock there.