A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

form of

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

s, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent damage to food supplies. In modern developed countries, such a professional is otherwise known as a

operative or pest exterminator.

Anecdotal history

Anecdotal reports suggest that some rat-catchers in Europe would raise rats instead of catching them in order to increase their eventual payment from the town or city they were employed by. 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 Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 – 25 July 1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine ''Punch'' in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in ...

's interview for ''

London Labour and the London Poor ''London Labour and the London Poor'' is a work of Victorian journalism by Henry Mayhew. In the 1840s, he observed, documented and described the state of working people in London for a series of articles in a newspaper, the ''Morning Chronicle'' ...

''.

Techniques

Professional ratcatchers Sydney 1900 Degotardi a147264

Rat-catchers may attempt to capture rats themselves, or release " ratters", animals trained or naturally skilled at catching them. They may also set a

rat trap A rat trap is a trap designed to catch rats. Designs are often larger variations on mousetraps. Types of traps Spring traps for large rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are character ...

or other

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

s. Modern methods of rat control include

s, poisoned bait, introducing

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

, reducing

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...

and clearing of current or potential nest sites.

Ratters

A "ratter" usually refers to a dog used for catching or killing rats. This includes specially-bred

terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

s for vermin-hunting, which may be known as

rat terrier The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion. They share much ancestry with the small hunting dogs known as feists. Common throughout family farms in the 1920s and 1930s, they are now recognize ...

s, although the latter may refer to a breed that was historically developed in

rat-baiting Rat-baiting is a blood sport that involves releasing captured rats in an enclosed space with spectators betting on how long a dog, usually a terrier, takes to kill the rats. Often, two dogs competed, with the winner receiving a cash prize. It i ...

Conditions and risks

Rats are rarely seen in the open, preferring to hide in holes, haystacks and dark locations. A rat-catcher's risk of being bitten is high, as is the risk of acquiring a disease from a rat bite.

Gallery

File:Pied piper.jpg, The oldest picture of

the Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...

, copied from the glass window of the Market Church in Hamelin File:FOURNEL(1887) p039 Fig.18.jpg, ''Death to the Rats'', Edmé Bouchardon File:Rattenfänger F 18Jh.jpg, ''Rat-catcher'', 18th century File:Rattenfänger 19Jh.jpg, ''Rat-catcher'', 19th century File:Frustrated Rat Catcher LACMA AC1998.249.17.jpg, ''Frustrated Rat Catcher'' (Ittan (Japan, circa 1820–1877),

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

In popular culture

Folklore

* A famous fictional rat-catcher was

; different versions of his story have been adapted into a variety of media works.

Comic books

* In the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Universe, one of Batman's enemies is the Rat Catcher, alias Otis Flannegan, who was employed as a real rat-catcher for Gotham City. The Rat Catcher occasionally orchestrates rat plagues using his uncanny ability to control rats.

Film

* Rat catchers make a major appearance in Dario Argento's ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' (1998 film). * '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), written and directed by Lynne Ramsay, is her debut feature film.

Television

* Colin "Chopper" Mozart, rat-catcher, was featured in an episode of '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' * The character Charlie Kelly from ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...

'' was responsible for catching and exterminating rats at Paddy’s Pub.

Literature

* Rat-catchers appear in

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York. Plot summary Spanning a period of 10 to ...

'' (1860). * British author Roald Dahl's short story, "The Ratcatcher", was collected in '' Someone Like You'' (1953). * Serafina, the Chief Rat Catcher of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. Serafina is a fictional character created by author Robert Beatty and was first introduced in '' Serafina and the Black Cloak'', a spooky, historical fiction novel. Serafina's mysterious adventures grew into a trilogy (''Book 2: Serafina and the Twisted Staff'', ''Book 3: Serafina and the Splintered Heart'') and the fourth book in the series is due for release in summer 2019.

Music

* The humorous ballad "The Famous Rat-Catcher" (c. 1615)--sometimes referenced by the first line, "There was a rare rat-catcher"—evokes both the material culture of contemporary ratting and the verminous conduct of a particular practitioner.The text and woodcut illustration of this broadside ballad were reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, ed., ''A Pepysian Garland: Black Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1594-1639, Chiefly from the Collection of Samuel Pepys'' (Cambridge University Press, 1922), pp. 60-65. The Library of Congress holds an original broadside: https://www.loc.gov/item/2007681612/. The text appears, with melody, in Ross W. Duffin, ''Shakespeare's Songbook'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), p. 326 et seq. The Baltimore Consort's performance is included in ''A Trip to Killburn: Playford Tunes and Their Ballads'' (Dorian, 1996; DOR-90238). A fellow rat-catcher also carries treatments for venereal disease; it is not clear from either the song or the editor's commentary whether this was a common part of the rat-catching trade.

References

External links

{{Gutenberg, author=Ike Matthewsan , no=17243, name=Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-catcher—1898 account of the tricks of the trade, by a British rat-catcher Cleaning and maintenance occupations Hunters by game Pest trapping Rat-baiting Rats