BBC World Service recently spoke to two female pest controllers about their experiences in two very different areas.
The Conversation host Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women working in pest control about their passion for the job and the ingenuity and adaptability of some household pests.
Patricia Page’s father was reluctant to let his daughter join the family business. He didn’t think rat catching was a job for women. But when the factory in Northern Ireland she worked at closed down, he relented and she too became a pest controller.
Ms Page said: “I love my job because of the difference I can make to people’s lives – sometimes it’s 80% counselling, 20% pest control.”
Regine Lim is an entomologist from Malaysia and the first woman to become president of her country’s pest control association, the MPMA.
After leaving university, she worked in the pest control industry for 10 years before setting up her own company. She’s since sold it to the firm she now works for.
Ms Lim actively encourages women to join the profession saying you never stop learning and having to come up with new solutions as pests are always adapting.
To listen to the broadcast, click HERE.