Doug Perry and his wife, Barbara, found their peaceful nights in Idaho disrupted by the unsettling noises of rats gnawing on cables and scampering around their home.
In their frustration, the couple resorted to laying out sticky glue pads and traps throughout their house, and even installed a Ring camera in the kitchen in hopes of catching the persistent intruders.
Each night, their sleep was interrupted by alerts signaling the rodents’ return to the kitchen. Doug explained that these clever rats often managed to elude capture, disappearing through a small cable hole behind the TV before the couple could catch up to them.
“My wife was at her wit’s end,” shared Doug, 71, from Boise, during an interview with the Daily Mail. “It was an exhausting ordeal.”
“They are incredibly fast and agile,” he added. “They can jump six feet. It’s just awful.”
This has become an all-too-familiar scenario for many residents in Ada County, where rat sightings have surged, forcing locals to spend thousands on pest control services.
Residents, like Doug, told the Daily Mail they’ve had to take matters into their own hands as lawmakers have failed to help them.
‘We tried everything and nothing worked,’ Doug told the Daily Mail.
Doug Perry and his wife, Barbara, found a large rat on their kitchen counter around 3am in January 2025
Doug told the Daily Mail the rats were coming through a small cable hole behind a TV at their home in Boise. He caught a rat by hand
That is until one night in January last year, Doug scurried faster than a rat to his kitchen, catching the massive vermin by the tail with his bare hands after getting a Ring notification.
‘I just had to kill him in my kitchen. It was a war,’ Doug said. ‘It was a nightmare.’
After that, the couple was miraculously left alone, and peaceful sleep was finally theirs again, but they are one of the lucky ones in the county.
People across Ada and the Treasure Valley area are being terrorized by the beasts with the population of Norway and roof rats growing to ‘apocalyptic’ levels, according to residents. Norway are the same species as the ones in New York City.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, State Representative Steve Berch warned: ‘Not dealing with the issue properly or in a timely manner can – and will – result in tens of thousands of dollars in damage.’
Idaho runs under what is known as Dillon’s Rule, which subscribes to the notion that the state government is the principal source of authority. It limits local government’s authority to create programs and procedures without the state’s approval.
Rats are not mentioned in the state’s law, so local governments have a hard time addressing the problem on a smaller level.
There is also not a local agency that is currently tasked with dealing with the problem.
Residents have been laying traps and calling in private pest control companies to deal with the problem
The local government is unable to help residents as it cannot do so without state permission
In March Berch introduced a Senate bill, called the Rodents of Unusual Size Act, after his constituents contacted him about the growing problem.
It failed in the State House, with 13 representatives, whose constituents live in the hotspots of Ada and Canyon Counties, voting no. If four of them had changed their mind, the bill would have passed.
Berch, a Democrat, blamed Republicans for letting the bill fail 32-38, as every Democrat had voted in favor of it.
‘Remember who to hold accountable: A short-sighted legislature, controlled by the majority party, that wouldn’t even approve the development of a plan – not spend money – just develop a plan to figure out what needs to be done,’ he wrote on Facebook after it failed to go through.
Some Republicans argued controlling the rat population would harm local pest control companies, but Berch said it would actually result in the exact opposite, as the state would have contracts with them to manage the infestation.
‘It’s a new invasion of an invasive species,’ Berch told the Daily Mail. ‘To deal with that, they would actually turn to the private sector for that expertise.’
He also said without mass efforts across the impacted counties and the state, Idaho could see a statewide infestation.
He fears the state will wait until it’s too late to react and it won’t be possible to get rid of them.
Residents have been sharing photos to Facebook of the increasing number of rats taking over their neighborhoods
State Representative Steve Berch introduced a Senate bill, called the Rodents of Unusual Size Act, after noticing rats in his area but the bill failed to pass
Ryan Davidson, the District 1 commissioner for Ada County, spent his summers growing up killing pests with his father’s company, but he never came across rats until recently.
He saw his constituents posting photos of rats on their social media pages, and he worried the county wasn’t prepared for the problem.
‘This is something new,’ he recalled thinking to the Daily Mail.
With the state legislature not passing new laws to help the county, Davidson told the Daily Mail that local officials are considering different avenues to help the problem without the state government.
So far, they haven’t been able to find a workaround, he said.
‘We’re still trying to figure out what exactly the extent of our authority is,’ he added.
Their best chance is to have a voter-approved abatement, much like the county did for mosquito control. It would create a new taxing district to pay for private pest control.
In the meantime, homeowners can expect to spend thousands of dollars to rid their homes of rats that invade their attic, crawl spaces, and kitchen pantries. And they may have to do it repeatedly if the problem isn’t eradicated on a large scale.
Ryan Davidson, the District 1 commissioner for Ada County, said the county is looking for ways around the state, but so far can’t find any. For now, getting rid of the pests lies in the hands of individuals
The City of Boise has increased its efforts to educate locals on how to prevent a rat infestation, including telling them to seal entry points, reduce moisture by fixing leaky pipes, and make sure to trim back trees and shrubs that could provide cover for rodents.
Politicians have largely blamed the influx, that started in 2002, on those moving into the area from California, Oregon, and Washington for bringing the rats to Idaho – despite the lack of proof.
Norway rats have been spotted in Washington, and roof rats tend to like warmer climates.
Treasure Valley also offers convenient throughfares for vermin through its irrigation canals.
The City of Eagle has been largely determined as the origin of the infestation and many people have dubbed the pests ‘Eagle’ rats.
Eagle spokesperson, Laura Williams, told the Idaho Statesman the city is ‘aware of the problem’ but that officials are stuck ‘in a holding pattern at the moment’ as state and city law does not address the rat population.
For now, the problem is growing and legislators are waiting for the new session to open to beg state lawmakers for any help they can get.
