<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">More than 1,000 miles of irrigation canals and ditches thread through the Treasure Valley in Idaho, transforming what was once an arid and remote high desert into one of the most fertile and fastest-growing parts of the country.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">They’re also a rat superhighway.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The suburbs around Boise are suffering from a rat explosion. Pest control operators in the state have reported record calls. Health officials have floated declaring a public emergency, and elected leaders are arguing over who should be responsible for a problem that stretches beyond any political border.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Most fingers are pointing west, toward California. </p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-1"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-large css-1gl942z e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1800"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1200"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=600"/><img alt="Three people in baseball caps stand by a railing overlooking a canal along the Boise River." class="css-r3fift" decoding="async" height="600" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 80vw, 100vw" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/07/multimedia/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth/07nat-idaho-rats-vmth-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 2048w" uri="nyt://image/67316602-c7c2-5fcf-8636-2112a9165128" width="600"/></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">A canal entrance along the Boise River in Garden City, across from the city of Boise. Rats use waterways, including the river and connecting canals, to travel across the region.</span><span class="css-iwa86d e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Loren Elliott for The New York Times</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“Check your luggage before you move,” Brad Pike, the mayor of Eagle, Idaho, said during a recent City Council discussion.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-3"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He wasn’t entirely kidding.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The rodent problem became a public concern thanks largely to one person, the retired naturalist and Eagle resident Jane Rohling. Around 2022, she started noticing rats in her backyard, a suburban idyll with raspberry bushes, cherry and apple trees and several bird feeders — a veritable rat buffet.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“I looked out one day, and there were four rats right at the base of that feeder — in the daytime,” she said. “That meant I already had a problem.”</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1u67kh9" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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