Editing Rat-catcher

{{Short description|Type of professional in pest control}}
{{Other uses|}}
{{for|the film|Ratcatcher (film)}}
[[File:Jack Black.jpg|thumb|[[Jack Black (rat catcher)|Jack Black]], rat-catcher, 1851]]
A '''rat-catcher''' is a person who kills or captures [[rat]]s as a [[Employment|professional]] form of [[pest control]]. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of [[disease]]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 [[pest control]] operative or pest exterminator.

==Anecdotal history==

A famous rat-catcher from [[Victorian era|Victorian]] England was [[Jack Black (rat catcher)|Jack Black]], who is known through [[Henry Mayhew]]'s interview for ''[[London Labour and the London Poor]]''.<ref name=Mayhew>{{cite book |title=London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 3 |chapter=Chapter I: The Destroyers of Vermin |last=Mayhew |first=Henry |date=1851 |chapter-url=http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00079/chapter/c1s5}}</ref>

== Techniques ==
[[File:Professional ratcatchers Sydney 1900 Degotardi a147264.jpg|thumb|Professional rat-catchers behind a pile of dead rats, during the outbreak of [[bubonic plague]] in [[Sydney]] in 1900]]

Rat-catchers may attempt to capture rats themselves, or release "[[wikt:ratter|ratters]]", animals trained or naturally skilled at catching them. They may also set a [[rat trap]] or other [[Animal trap|trap]]s.

Modern methods of rat control include [[Animal trap|trap]]s, [[Pest control#Poisoned bait|poisoned bait]], introducing [[Biological pest control|predators]], reducing [[litter]], smoke machines, and clearing of current or potential nest sites.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schappi |first=Colin |date=2023-04-12 |title=Rat-Hunting Dogs in Bushwick |url=https://www.curbed.com/2023/04/rat-hunting-dogs-bushwick-nyc.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Curbed |language=en}}</ref>

===Ratters===
{{redirect|Ratter|the motion picture|Ratter (film)}}
{{main|Ratter (dog)}} 
A "ratter" usually refers to a dog used for catching or killing rats. This includes specially-bred [[terrier]]s for vermin-hunting, which may be known as [[rat terrier]]s, although the latter may refer to a breed that was historically developed in [[rat-baiting]].<!--- wikt definition appends "a rat terrier" as a synonym-->

===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==
<gallery widths="154px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption="Rat-catchers in art">
File:Pied piper.jpg|The oldest picture of [[the Pied Piper of Hamelin]], 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]]
</gallery>

==In popular culture==
===Folklore===
* A famous fictional rat-catcher was [[the Pied Piper of Hamelin]]; different versions of his story have been adapted into a variety of media works.

===Comic books===
* In the [[DC Comics]] 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.<ref>''Batman: Arkham Asylum'' character bios.</ref>

===Film===
* Rat catchers make a major appearance in [[Dario Argento]]'s ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1998 film)|The Phantom of the Opera]]'' (1998 film).
* ''[[Ratcatcher (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]]''<ref>"Shakespeare/Michelangelo/Colin Mozart [ratcatcher]" (1970) http://www.montypython.net/scripts/shakespeare.php</ref>
* The character [[Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)|Charlie Kelly]] from ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' was responsible for catching and exterminating rats at Paddy’s Pub.

===Literature===
* Rat-catchers appear in [[George Eliot]]'s ''[[The Mill on the Floss]]'' (1860).
* British author [[Roald Dahl]]'s short story, "The Ratcatcher",<ref>{{cite web |website=Goodreads |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20118223-the-ratcatcher |author=Dahl, Raoul |title=The Ratcatcher |edition=Kindle |publisher=Penguin |date=September 13, 2012 |asin=B008QXLFEI}}</ref> was collected in ''[[Someone Like You (collection)#Contents|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books |url=https://robert-beatty.com/books/ |publisher=robert-beatty.com}}</ref>

===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.<ref>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).</ref> 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.

==See also==
*[[List of books and articles about rats]]
*[[Rat-baiting]]
*[[Rat trap]]
*[[Ratcatcher's Day]]
*''[[The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents]]''
*[[Trench rats]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ratcatchers}}
{{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

[[Category:Cleaning and maintenance occupations]]
[[Category:Hunters by game]]
[[Category:Pest trapping]]
[[Category:Rat-baiting]]
[[Category:Rats]]