HEALTH AND SAFETY | PPC108 September 2022

Do you love pest control so much that you want to carry on in your downtime? We’ve got you covered. These are our favourite television, books and video games for pest professionals.

Love, Death and Robots: Mason’s Rats

SHORT FILM
Love, Death and Robots is a series of Netflix shorts looking at different aspects of our near future.
Mason’s Rats deals with a pest problem on a farm.

Gruesome and exciting, this short deals with real pest issues like mutations and smart traps. With pest control getting increasingly high-tech, this short film is certainly interesting (albeit not particularly flattering towards pesties).

It’s only ten minutes long, and it’s pretty fun. Give it a watch. 

The Rats, James Herbert

HORROR NOVEL
It’s a classic. If you haven’t given it a read yet and you’re not squeamish about rats eating people, get a cheap ebook version or grab a copy from your local library. 

Set in East London, The Rats follows Harris – a young art teacher – who investigates a rat bite one of his students receives on the way to class. And it only gets darker from there. 

The book takes many gruesome turns with black rats the size of small dogs, a useless Minister of Health, and an expert pest controller. It also has some interesting sections on rat-based biology – so maybe you can record it as CPD? (Disclaimer: you probably shouldn’t).

Bob’s Burgers

SITCOM
Bob’s Burgers is an animated television sitcom following the Belcher family and their burger restaurants. Every title sequence features a pest control van pulling in front of the restaurants featuring a new pest control contractor, such as ‘Rats all folks’, ‘The Pest Pesterer’, and ‘No more Mr Mice Guy’.

Outside of the title sequences, Bob’s constant battles with his local safety inspector make pest control a recurring theme in the show. With fantastic voice acting and wholesome storylines, give this show a watch if you like puns and pests.

See all the Bob's Burgers pest control van gags here.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

VIDEOGAME
Have you ever wondered what a pest controller might look like in a fantasy universe? 

The Witcher 3 is an action role-playing video game from 2015. It follows Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer for hire known as a Witcher. Witchers are basically pest controllers.

However rats, mice and bed bugs are the least of Geralt’s worries. Just like a traditional pest controller, Witchers need to investigate the root cause of a problem, select the correct tools for the job, and work with demanding clients. This isn’t your typical hack-and-slash adventure. 

It’s an eight-year-old game, but it still stands up to the test of time. If you’re looking for a long story-based escape from reality where you can test your pest management skills against vampires, dragons, ghouls and even a giant frog, take Witcher 3 for a spin. 

Your favourite pest control tails tales

What’s your favourite pest-related media? Share anything you spot at hello@bpca.org.uk

Source: PPC108