What defines a pest, really? What makes one animal seen as a loveable little critter that we want to share our space with and the other an irredeemable menace marked for eradication? In Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains, Bethany Brookshire attempts to answer this question by giving us a cultural history of our relationship with these species we deem ‘pest-y’ and what makes us so quick to assign them a villainous role.
One of things that really stood out to me is how very arbitrary the assignation of pest is. For example, I’m a fairly recent transplant to the US, and I’m still delighted by squirrels! I think they’re adorable. I love how eager campus squirrels come over to say howdy and have altercations with the Starship robots. But Brookshire is less enamoured by them—or specifically, ‘F**king Kevin.’ Kevin, she admits, is her mortal enemy. Kevin is an absolute scourge. Kevin is probably not just one little squirrel, but a proverbial ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’ of fluffy-tailed menaces. Kevin, it transpires, has committed the crime of massacring Brookshire’s tomato seedlings! And for this outrage, he and his kind have been crowned as pests.
But is it really Kevin’s fault? He is just a squirrel. It’s in his nature. It’s not like he’s gone and murdered the author’s family. No, Kevin’s assignation as a pest is more reflective of our inability to control our environment than his lack of ability to control his appetite.

So it should be no surprise to anyone that our relationships with these kinds of animals are so complicated. Like in the case of Kevin, the animals themselves are often not hurting is directly. Instead, it’s often a question of irritation—either by their presence alone or by them messing around with our possessions. In the course of Pests, Brookshire takes us through our relationships with 10 different vertebrate species and how different, times, places and cultures handled their relationships with them.
One of the first chapters concerns rats, and this was a very surprising one for me. Of course, of all the pest species, rats, if not outright hated, are pretty universally side-eyed due to their association with illness, right? Turns out, thats not true. When the ancestors of the Māori first came to Aotearoa (New Zealand) they brought much of what the needed with them. This included a source of meat in the kiore (Pacific Rat.) Once kiore populations were established, they were happily trapped and eaten. But they were acknowledged as part of the local ecosystem and respected in Māori culture. Sadly, they haven’t been able to compete so well with European rats. Another reason why Rattus is still seen as a pest in Aotearoa, perhaps?
Pigeons were another interesting example. People used to love pigeons—they were one of the very first domesticated birds and people invited them into their homes. We had them do jobs for us, and they were even bred to be eaten. But some of the birds escaped their domestic confines. And the bigger the feral pigeon population got, the more they gained a reputation as an annoyance. The more they annoyed us, the more we wanted them gone. And with the rise of mass bred chickens, squab became less popular. The tables really turned on the poor pigeon in the US the early decades of the 20th century, leaving them with the reputation ‘rats with wings’

Another domestic companion whose place in our affections has changed is cats. Unlike pigeons, there is a more geographic rather than temporal element to this story. Many civilisations, past and present, loved cats. They’re cute, (moderately) well domesticated and critically, they’re useful. But to some people, stray cats—again, living out of our confines and therefore, out of our control—are a nuisance. Many environmentalists go a step further and consider them an absolute menace out destroy native species. I expect a little pushback over this section—some cat lovers really don’t like hearing anyone badmouth their furry friends. But here’s the temporal element: if you’re unhappy about your moggies being referred to nuisances, you’re going to very upset about how Australia handles it’s ‘ferals.’
…And if you don’t like how Australia handles cats, wait until you hear about how we handle the horses. In fact, Australia comes up an awful lot in this book, often with a controversial opinion. (However, to be clear: controversial does not necessarily mean wrong.)
But time and time again, the problem of pests often lies with us, especially in those cultures that possess a greater need to dominate than others. Brookshire does point out that this attitude is not universal though, and would be of benefit to try and incorporate other viewpoints and forms of knowledge when it comes to reassessing our relationships with ‘pests’
Even with F**king Kevin
For anyone with an interest in wildlife conservation, environmentalism or the willingness to perhaps reassess their relationships with certain species, Pests is well worth a look at.
