Rat-catcher

For related meanings, see Rat-catcher (disambiguation)

Cover of the 1889 publication Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher by Ike Matthews

The rat-catcher is a profession centered around catching rats as a form of pest control.

While no longer a profession in developed countries there are still rat-catchers in India and other developing countries.

Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases to man, most notoriously the Black Plague and to prevent damage to food supplies.

It is said that some rat-catchers in Europe would raise rats instead of catching them in order to get more money from the towns. This, and the practice of rat-fights, could have led to rat-breeding and the adoption of the rat as a pet - the fancy rat.

A famous rat-catcher from Victorian England was Jack Black, who is known through Henry Mayhew\'s interview for London Labour and the London Poor.

A famous fictional rat-catcher was The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Ratcatchers also make a major appearance in Dario Argento\'s The Phantom of the Opera.

Techniques and Risks

Rat-catchers would capture rats by hand or traps. Rats are rarely seen in the open, preferring to hide in holes, haystacks and dark locations. Payment would be high for catching and selling rats to breeders, but there is a high risk of getting bitten with rats being potential carriers of disease, such as Bubonic plague.

See also

• Rat baiting
• The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

External links

• Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-catcher by Ike Matthews, available at Project Gutenberg. - an 1898 account of the tricks of the trade, by a British rat-catcher

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