Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher After 25 Years' Experience [Paperback]

Ike Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

FULL REVELATIONS OF A PROFESSIONAL RAT-CATCHER AFTER 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE. By Ike Matthews Originally published in Manchester 1898, this rare early work on rat catching and control is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. READ COUNTRY BOOKS have now republished it in an affordable, high quality, modern edition, using the original text. Ike Matthews was a well known pest controller in his home town of Manchester over 100 years ago. His services were much in demand by local corporations, railway companies and merchants. This book details his extermination methods acquired over some twenty five years as a full time rat catcher. During this period he not only studied the different and the best methods of catching rats, but also took great interest in their ways and habits. The book's sixty four pages contain ten detailed chapters:- How to Clear Rats from Warehouses, Offices, Store Rooms etc. - Trapping. - Ferreting. - Drugs and Chemicals. - How to Keep and Work Ferrets. - Distemper in Ferrets. - Working Ferrets. - Suitable Dogs. - The Habits and Natural History of Rats. - Life of the Rat Catcher. - Hints on Rabbit Shooting. This is a fascinating read for all with an interest in the countryside and its wildlife. The pest controller and gamekeeper, both amateur and professional, will also find much of the information contained in these pages still useful and practical, even today. Many of the earliest sporting books, particularly those dating back to the 1800s, are now extremely scarce and very expensive. READ COUNTRY BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Product Details

• Paperback: 68 pages
• Publisher: Read Country Book (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905124643
• ISBN-13: 978-1905124640
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,996,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, not great., January 31, 2010

By 

M. Broderick "mikebinok" (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher, After 25 Years' Experience (Kindle Edition)

I've said for a long time that for any but the most menial career fields, it is interesting to hear someone experienced talk about the problems and challenges of job. This book bears that out.

The book is extremely short, and I was a bit disappointed to see that it isn't the accounts of specific days on the job, dealing with strange characters or particular quirky circumstances that I'd expected. Instead this is mostly a "how to" book on how to catch rats according to best practices of mid-19th Century England. It is well-written and readable, unlike many how-to books. There are some bits of color, such as describing the author's confrontation with a company board over the price he wanted to charge--He finally offered a five pound note to any of the gentlemen of the board who would spend the next evening with him crawling around under the floorboard of the building placing rat traps and removing them. Nobody took him up on his offer.

I read this book on my Kindle--Note that the formatting on the one dollar edition is awful, the line length is too long for the Kindle and you alternate between a full-length line on the Kindle followed by a short stub of a line that fills out the original line length. The book is short enough that this can be put up with for the hour or so it will take you to read the book.

An amusing and interesting short diversion, but not enormously entertaining or meaningful.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great short read., August 16, 2008

By 

T. Downing "tjayd" (Germany) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher after 25 Years' Experience (Paperback)

I picked this up at Oliver Cromwell's house on a visit to the UK a few years ago; but just got around to reading it. It is far more interesting that I thought it would be. This book gives a historical perspective that I never realized even existed and is partially biographical, partly practical, and comes across as a statement by a man who really cared about his profession. There are grizzly portions to get though, but I think anyone interested in the social history of the industrial age will get a lot out of this. Enjoy.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it., January 7, 2010

By 

NYer in Oklahoma "John" (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher, After 25 Years' Experience (Kindle Edition)

Enjoyable book. I read it on a plane ride and thought it was a worthy read.