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 or
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...
. 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
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''vermis'' (
worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...
), and was originally used for the worm-like
larvae 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 (such as
rats
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
),
cockroaches
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known ...
,
termites
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...
,
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,
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
rodents 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 and
arachnids 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 colloquialism
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...
, a corruption of "vermin" particularly common to the
American East and South-east within the nearby bordering states of the vast
Appalachia 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
Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...
, and
coyotes, sometimes even
wolves or rarely
bears
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...
, 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
Varmint rifle is an American English term for a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting (the elimination of outdoor animals which harass properties) and pest control (the eradication of indoor ...
'' 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
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...
to limit the danger to the environment. Examples of vermin include
goats on the
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands ( Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuad ...
,
rabbits in Australia or
cats on
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Islan ...
.
Rats
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
,
mice, and
cockroaches
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known ...
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.
See also
*
Parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson h ...
*
Pest
*
Weed
References
External links
*
The New Brunswick Ministry of Natural Resources
{{Authority control
Animals and humans
Environmental health
Hunting
Pests (organism)