Vermin ( colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterprise. The term derives from the Latin ''vermis'' ( worm), and was originally used for the worm-like

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

of certain insects, many of which infest foodstuffs. The term ''varmint'' (and ''vermint'') has been found in sources from c. 1530–1540s.

Definition

The term "vermin" is used to refer to a wide scope of organisms, including

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are nat ...

(such as rats), cockroaches, termites,

bed bugs Bed bugs are insects from the genus ''Cimex'' that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ...

, ferrets, stoats,

sables A sable is a mammal in the mustelid (weasel) family. Sable may also refer to: Animals * American Sable, an ARBA-recognised rabbit breed * Sable, a dog coat pattern * Sable, a ferret coat coloring * Sable antelope, an antelope which inhabits w ...

, pigeons, and occasionally foxes. Historically, in the 16th and 17th century, the expression also became used as a derogatory term associated with groups of persons typically plagued by vermin, namely beggars and vagabonds, and more generally the poor. Disease-carrying

and insects are the usual case, but the term is also applied to larger animals—especially small predators—typically because they consume resources which humans consider theirs, such as livestock and crops. Birds which eat cereal crops and fruit are an example. The American crow (''Corvus brachyrhynchos''), is widely hated by farmers because of crop depredation. Pigeons, which have been widely introduced in urban environments, are also sometimes considered vermin. Some varieties of

snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

and

arachnids Arachnida () is a Class (biology), class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, came ...

may also be referred to as vermin. "Vermin" is also used by some people as a term of abuse, either individually or collectively.

''Varmint''

''Varmint'' or ''varmit'' is an

American-English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

, a corruption of "vermin" particularly common to the American East and South-east within the nearby bordering states of the vast

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

region. The term describes species which raid farms from without, as opposed to vermin (such as rats) that infest from within, thus referring mainly to predators such as feral dogs, foxes, weasels, and coyotes, sometimes even wolves or rarely bears, but also, to a lesser degree, herbivores and burrowing animals that directly damage crops and land. Although "varmint/varmit" is not the prevalent usage in

Standard Written English English orthography is the writing system used to represent spoken English, allowing readers to connect the graphemes to sound and to meaning. It includes English's norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, word breaks, emphasis, and p ...

, it is a common descriptor for certain kinds of weapons and pest control situations in the Appalachian and nearby states and the American West and South-west which have adopted terms such as '' varmint rifle'' and '' varmint hunting''.

Deterioration of balance

Any species can develop into vermin if introduced into a region where there are favorable living conditions and few natural predators. In such cases, they are seen as an invasive species and humans often choose to fill the role of the predator to limit the danger to the environment. Examples of vermin include goats on the Galápagos Islands, rabbits in Australia or

cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

on Prince Edward Islands. Rats,

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, and cockroaches are common urban and suburban vermin.

United Kingdom

Under Tudor "vermin laws", many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses. The declaration of the red kite as vermin led to its decline to the point of extirpation in the UK by the 20th century. However, the red kite has since been reintroduced to much of Scotland and the majority of England and Wales by the trans-location of breeding pairs from other parts of Europe.

References

External links