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==History== [[File: Bronze Saite era art of an Egyptian cat in the Gulbenkian Museum.jpg|thumb|left|Bronze cat, Ancient Egypt. (664β525 BC)]] Pest control is at least as old as [[agriculture]], as there has always been a need to keep crops free from pests. As long ago as 3000 BC in Egypt, [[cats]] were used to control pests of grain stores such as rodents.<ref>Taylor, D., ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150615032605/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Cc5BM_aPegkC&pg=PA9&dq=pest+cat+rats&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBDgUahUKEwixhYr7qojGAhUQF9sKHbHbABE#v=onepage&q=pest%20cat%20rats&f=false The Complete Contented Cat: Your Ultimate Guide to Feline Fulfilment]'', David & Charles, 2011, p.9. Archived [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cc5BM_aPegkC&dq=pest+cat+rats&pg=PA9 from the Original]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beadle |first=Muriel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnjgqpNKYksC&dq=pest+cat+rats&pg=PA96 |title=Cat |date=1979-10-29 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-25190-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Ferret]]s were domesticated by 1500 BC in Europe for use as mousers. [[Mongoose]]s were introduced into homes to control rodents and snakes, probably by the [[ancient Egypt]]ians.<ref>Sherman, D.M., [https://books.google.com/books?id=J6oxHWOnRgoC&dq=pest+snakes+cats&pg=PA45 ''Tending Animals in the Global Village: A Guide to International Veterinary Medicine'', John Wiley & Sons, 2007, p. 45.]</ref> The conventional approach was probably the first to be employed, since it is comparatively easy to destroy weeds by burning them or ploughing them under, and to kill larger competing herbivores. Techniques such as [[crop rotation]], [[companion planting]] (also known as intercropping or mixed cropping), and the [[selective breeding]] of pest-resistant [[cultivar]]s have a long history.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Chrispeels, Maarten J.|author2=Sadava, David E.|title=Plants, Genes, and Agriculture |url=https://archive.org/details/plantsgenesagric0000chri |url-access=registration|year=1994 |publisher=Jones and Bartlett Publishers |isbn=978-0-86720-871-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/plantsgenesagric0000chri/page/452 452]}}</ref> [[File:Red weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) feeding on a dead African giant snail (Achatina fulica) - journal.pone.0060797.g001-F.png|thumb|[[Oecophylla smaragdina|Red weaver ants]], here feeding on a [[Lissachatina fulica|snail]], have been used to control pests in China, Southeast Asia, and Africa for many centuries.]] Chemical [[pesticide]]s were first used around 2500 BC, when the [[Sumer]]ians used [[sulphur]] compounds as [[insecticide]]s.<ref name=Cornell/> Modern pest control was stimulated by the spread across the United States of the [[Colorado potato beetle]]. After much discussion, [[Paris green|arsenical]] compounds were used to control the beetle and the predicted poisoning of the human population did not occur. This led the way to a widespread acceptance of insecticides across the continent.<ref name=Emden>{{cite book|author=van Emden, Helmut F. |title=Pest Control|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YERHFpj5BgUC |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-42788-3 |pages=1β4}}</ref> With the [[industrialisation]] and [[mechanization]] of agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the introduction of the insecticides [[pyrethrum]] and [[derris]], chemical pest control became widespread. In the 20th century, the discovery of several synthetic [[insecticide]]s, such as [[DDT]], and [[herbicide]]s boosted this development.<ref name=Emden/> The harmful side effect of pesticides on humans has now resulted in the development of newer approaches, such as the use of [[Biological pest control|biological control]] to eliminate the ability of pests to reproduce or to modify their behavior to make them less troublesome.{{cn|date=August 2024}} Biological control is first recorded around 300 AD in China, when colonies of weaver ants, ''[[Oecophylla smaragdina]]'', were intentionally placed in [[citrus]] plantations to control beetles and caterpillars.<ref name=Cornell>{{cite web |title=The History of Integrated Pest Management |url=https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/ipm444/lec-notes/extra/ipm-history.html |publisher=Cornell University |access-date=27 August 2017}} which cites {{cite journal |first=G.B. |last=Orlob |date=1973 |title=Ancient and medieval plant pathology |journal=Pflanzenschutz-Nachrichten |volume=26 |pages=65β294}}</ref> Also around 4000 BC in China, [[duck]]s were used in paddy fields to consume pests, as illustrated in ancient cave art. In 1762, an Indian [[mynah]] was brought to Mauritius to control locusts, and about the same time, citrus trees in Burma were connected by bamboos to allow ants to pass between them and help control caterpillars. In the 1880s, [[ladybird]]s were used in citrus plantations in California to control [[scale insect]]s, and other biological control experiments followed. The introduction of DDT, a cheap and effective compound, put an effective stop to biological control experiments. By the 1960s, problems of resistance to chemicals and damage to the environment began to emerge, and biological control had a renaissance. Chemical pest control is still the predominant type of pest control today, although a renewed interest in traditional and biological pest control developed towards the end of the 20th century and continues to this day.<ref>{{cite book|author1=van Emden, H.F.|author2=Service, M.W.|title=Pest and Vector Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E97h4EV97KEC&pg=PA147 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01083-2 |page=147}}</ref> <!--[[File:Birds-seagull-donotfeed-amoswolfe.jpg|thumb|upright|Sign in Ilfracombe, England designed to help control [[seagull]] presence]]-->
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