How long have pests been around?

For thousands of years, people have had to live with pests. Over time, human beings have discovered effective ways to control pests. In ancient Egypt, cats were raised to catch mice that were eating wheat and barley the Egyptians stored to make bread. Five hundred years ago, Chinese farmers used a form of nicotine from the tobacco plant to kill unwanted insects on their crops. And in tropical areas of the world—like in Africa and Asia—mosquito nets are used to surround beds so that mosquitoes carrying the malaria disease are kept from biting sleeping people. All of these are natural ways to control pests.