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A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, 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.
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.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-catcher
- Ike Matthewsan. Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-catcher at Project Gutenberg—1898 account of the tricks of the trade, by a British rat-catcher. < link >