‘Oh rats!’: Confronting a rodent infestation in western Idaho

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – Rats and rodents were front and center at a public hearing today in Boise.

As reports of a rat infestation in the Treasure Valley flood the media, Ada County Director of Weed & Pest Abatement Adam Schroeder said the county is not currently authorized to target the rat population, nor have they been named an invasive species.

He played video of rats crawling around inside a home in northwest Boise.

“It's very alarming when, you know, you can walk outside somebody's house and see rats crawling inside there,” Schroeder said. “We have detected Norway and roof rats, rising public sentiment is that these populations are increasing.”

The reported spread is concerning as both species can carry potentially deadly pathogens.

“Both species have the ability to harbor nasty and devastating diseases, including hantavirus, plague, leptospirosis, salmonellosis and others,” Schroeder explained.  “And the status of rat infestations right now? The populations are unknown."

Schroeder recommended a “statewide effort” to inhibit rats from spreading across the state and prevent outbreaks leading to loss of human life.

Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt said the department is ready to act if enabled by legislators.

She evaluated the efficacy of sanitation/exclusion treatments, trapping, repellants, rodent poison and predation as possible solutions.

She also cited the department’s work targeting quagga and zebra mussels, grasshoppers and Mormon crickets, Japanese beetles and noxious weeds as examples of the agency programs to prevent and respond to past infestations.

Idaho lawmakers are expected to take action to address the rodent problem later this session.