Charting the centuries from Tudor times to the present day Roger Lovegrove reveals the systematic ways in which man has gone about culling birds and mammals deemed to be vermin. The early chapters trace the Tudor acts relating to vermin control and the social reasoning behind them, along with the methods used to catch and kill animals and birds, as well as the slightly different approach in Scotland. Detailed analysis of parish records for the numbers of the various species killed then follows, organised by species, whilst the final chapters bring the story up to date with the more localised erradication campaigns of the 1800s and the raft of legislation governing vermin control in the 20th century.