A visit to a Dutch endenkooi, an elaborate trap used by duck hunters in The Netherlands for hundreds of years. This is an exact model of the lake we visited, complete with windmill!
The Dutch government pays to restore and maintain several of these koois, or traps. This guy manages this particular kooi.
The dark "H" you see is a lake with 4 curving arms or canals, which are the traps. The surrounding fences are made of willow reeds, as are the arches over the canals. The fences shield the kooikerhondje (dog) and kooiker (duck hunter) from the view of the ducks.
The endenkoois (there are three in this park) are situated in a wetlands preserve at the corner of this intersection.
The "class" visiting the presentation.
The hunter and his dog gathering ducks from the trap.
The ducks are no longer killed after capture, but are ringed for ornithological research.
Photographs of the presentation boards detailing the history of the Dutch endenkoois.
The endenkooi serves as a wetlands preservation. The dog is one feature of a much larger environmental project.
The red dots mark the endenkoois in The Netherlands. The many different shapes of the ponds are illustrated on the right.
The kooiker replaces the willow arches from the inside of the canals by standing on a floating dock (lower right).
Types of geese who also frequent the endenkooi.
Other animals found in the preserve.
Impliments the kooiker might use. The four-pronged fork is for stabbing eels. The trap on the lower left is for discouraging human interlopers (or so the kooiker told us!).
Implements for trimming the willow trees, which are harvested every three years.
Our guide explaining the role of the dog and the duck hunter.
The inside wall is a series of short, angled fences, which hide and reveal the dog as it runs through them, according to instructions from the hunter. The ducks, curious about this hide-and-seek game with the kooikerhondje's white tail, are lured farther down the pipe. The dog distracts them from noticing that the pipe is getting narrower and narrower.
A closer look at the angled walls that allows the dog to appear and disappear, inspiring the ducks to follow him further in.
Once the ducks have progressed down the pipe, the hunter can pull a rope, raising a gate, and trapping the ducks at the end of the pipe.
The cottage housing the presentation.
This is the pond where the hunter trains his ducks. It takes two years to train a decoy duck! First, their wings are clipped so they can't fly away. They are always fed inside the mouth of the net arch, so they become accustomed the swimming down the "pipe." In the fall, wings still clipped, they are released to the larger pond so they can mingle with the wild flocks. (Con't next slide.)
The following year, their wings grow so they can fly with the wild ducks. They will lead the flock back to their familiar endenkooi, and will go to the mouth of the pipe to eat. The flocks follow them, and are further lured "down the pipe" by the dog and his handler. (Con't.)
Unfortunately, the week before we arrived, a fox killed about 30 of this man's decoy ducks, so he will not be hunting this fall!
The handler and his hunting dog.
The training site for the kooikerhondje. This hunter's dogs are already trained; thus, the overgrowth!
A duck nest, made of willow fronds, and placed in a willow tree.
Duck nests encourage wild flocks to stay and breed at the endenkooi.
Willow trees ready for harvest!
Harvested willow fronds, used for making the walls and fences around the pond.
Willow fronds of different sizes, used for different constructions.
The entrance to the endenkooi.
We toured the endenkooi in reverse, starting where the ducks end up--at the trap (overgorwn and not currently in use) at the end of the pipe.
The pipe, small at the trap end and larger at the pond end, leading towards the pond.
The screens shield the hunter from view of the ducks.
The duck hunter standing next to the willow screens.
The angle of the screens allows the duck hunter to see and communicate with his dog, while remaining out of sight of the ducks.
A little door through which the kooikerhondje can pass, at the hunter's command, as the dog plays hide-and-seek with the ducks.
The entire trap is constructed out of willow fronds and branches, wire, rope, and netting.
A rope allows the hunter to pull up a door and prevent the ducks from escaping after they swim past a certain point.
The mouth of the pipe. It is here that the decoy ducks come to feed, bringing the wild ducks with them. Then the dog appears, running playfully between the screens. The ducks, enchanted, follow the dog and the decoy ducks into the pipe.
A duck blind, from which the hunter can observe the flocks on the pond.
The view of the pond. It was early in the fall when we visited, so there are a few ducks, but not the migrations numbers that will come later.
Looking back at the duck blind.
An old willow tree--half of it is healthy, and half is diseased. (Con't.)
Originally, this line of willow trees formed the posts of the fence that is now standing on the left. (Con't.)
The willow trees are 500 years old, indicating that this endenkooi has been in operation for at least 500 years!
We were lucky to have this Harvard professor, who is Dutch, as part of our group. He was able to translate the presentation from Dutch into English quite easily.
This long avenue of 500-year-old willow trees is a Dutch monument.
A new willow wall, with young live willows as fence posts.
A windmill next to the lake.
The path leading back. It took about an hour to walk around the entire endenkooi! This elaborate method of hunting ducks takes place on a very large scale and is incredibly complex. It requires the cooperation and training of many decoy ducks, the kooikerhondje, and the duck hunter. It also requires constant maintenance and repair of the elaborately-constructed walls and pipes of the trap. Preserving this ancient form of hunting also requires the preservation of original Dutch wetlands, which protects not only water fowl, but also provides a habitat for native flowers, plants, and other animals as well.
