Drone footage — © Hunters Association
It’s spring, temperatures are rising and the grass is starting to grow again. Time for the farmer to mow the first cut of grass. In the Netherlands, the first mowing date is mainly determined by the temperature in the months March to May. This coincides with the period when fawns and hares are born and the nests of meadow birds, pheasants and other ground nesters hatch in the meadows. Hunters are therefore now active throughout the Netherlands to prevent as many mowing victims as possible by checking the mowing plots in advance with a drone for the presence of vulnerable young animals.
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By adjusting their mowing method, many farmers already take into account the newborn animals hidden in the tall grass. The most efficient mowing method to preserve wildlife is to mow from the inside out. While mowing, you drive the animals to the outside of the plot, where they can flee. However, the newborn fawns, hares and birds that have just hatched from their eggs do not yet have this flight instinct. They will not move and only flatten themselves when the reaper comes.
Thermal imaging camera
To prevent unnecessary animal suffering, hunters take action, armed with a well-equipped drone. Both a thermal imaging camera and a normal camera are attached to this. The drone team has to get to work early in the morning to make optimal use of the thermal images. Fawns and other vulnerable animals are traced in this way. A metal cage is then placed around them or they are temporarily moved, to be freed immediately after mowing so that they can be reunited with the mother animal. Good contact between hunter and farmer is crucial in these rescue operations.
More and more wildlife management units are purchasing a drone from their own resources. This is because every year there is more demand for the use of hunters for these purposes and more and more farmers and landowners are finding volunteer hunters with a drone team. The drone teams will probably be busy with their rescue operations until about mid-June.
