Squirrels and rats attacking AT&T fiber

[anorlunda]

I know that squirrels have always caused more electric power outages than any other cause. Now it is extending to fiber.
Whoops.

http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33/13#subj1
Peter Neumann <neumann@csl.sri.com>
Fri, 8 Apr 2022 20:33:00 PDT
For the past few weeks, numerous AT&T trucks have been seen daily in our
neighborhood, which has been plagued by squirrels and rats chewing through
Internet fiber—with lengthy outages even up to an entire week. AT&T is
attributing the problem to the fact that they (as opposed to other carriers)
is using environmentally friendly soy-based encapsulation for fiber. In
this case, it appears that "environmentally friendly" also means very
friendly to squirrels and rats.

There are also some reports that this may also be a problem with fiber
in certain automobile models, including Teslas. It'Soy veh!

 

[jedishrfu]

I heard that the use of PEX polyethylene piping in homes has a similar issue with rats and mice potentially gnawing through a pipe and causing major water damage to a home. Something the plumbers didn't see coming.

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/rodents-chew-pex-pipe/

 

[artis]

environmentally friendly soy-based encapsulation for fiber.

Hmm, I wonder whether vegans can also eat it ?

 

[nsaspook]

Unfortunately it's a common problem with cars.


They sell capsaicin tape to wrap car wiring.

https://www.bernardiparts.com/Honda-TAPE-RODENT-19MM-20M__4019-2317.aspx

 

[artis]

Well I too consider myself an environmentalist so much so I sometimes pick up empty bottles in the forest as a sport, but I believe the purpose of being eco friendly is defeated the moment you have wires that rats can eat and then you need to use some "extra" chemical or tool (special tapes etc) to prevent those rats and squirrels from eating them...

I believe we would be more eco friendly if we produced stuff that lasts and provided adequate recycling for it afterwards instead of just producing "planned obsolescence" junk that we throw out every 6 months or 2 years.

I mean an optical fiber should last a rather long time , what's the point of making it out of a vegan's breakfast?
Let's say it's cheaper to produce the wire encapsulation from soy , and the company can score more "Greta points", but what about the frequent changing? What happens to the fiber itself as the wire is changed?
Optical fiber unlike the soy encapsulation doesn't break down easily as far as I know.

 

[Oldman too]

Its all vegan breakfast to rodents, I have an ongoing 40 year war with pack rats eating my spark plug wires on the rig. I'll link a brief Q&A on rodent chaos, it describes the problem, especially exposed lines without conduit or shielding. Pinky and the Brain just might be involved here.
https://www.cablinginstall.com/home/article/16468179/rodent-damage-to-cables

"The rodents chewed completely through, severing the jacket, Kevlar, and fiber."

 

[Mark44]

The problem extends to rodents other than squirrels, mice, and rats. There's a place in Olympic Nat'l Park called Obstruction Point, elevation 6100', a starting point for many hikes I've done. At that elevation, there aren't any squirrels and probably no mice, but there definitely are marmots. These animals are similar in size and appearance to beavers, but without the broad, flat tail. Park rangers have warned people parking at this trailhead that marmots have gnawed car wiring, which would be a big disappointment at the end of a long hike if your car wouldn't start.

For the problems described in this thread, "eco-friendly" seems like a synonym for the law of unintended consequences.

 

[neilparker62]

For the problems described in this thread, "eco-friendly" seems like a synonym for the law of unintended consequences.

Put more bluntly , if you wrap your fibre in rat food, what do you expect the rats to do ?!

 

[Astronuc]

These animals are similar in size and appearance to beavers, but without the broad, flat tail. Park rangers have warned people parking at this trailhead that marmots have gnawed car wiring, which would be a big disappointment at the end of a long hike if your car wouldn't start.

I had a friend who went camping in the mountains in Oregon, and apparently a marmot crawled up behind the engine block near the firewall. It subsequently died, and he had to somehow get it out by removing the driver-side fender. He removed it as pieces of decayed carcass. It is recommended that folks camping in mountains in California, Oregon and Washington inspect their vehicles under the hood before departing, especially when the weather is cold and the vehicle is warm.

 

[Klystron]

At the risk of appearing unscientific on an engineering forum, some people seem to attract animals.

My father was allergic to fur, never fed our many critters and harshly kicked pets out of his path. Nonetheless, our many cats swarmed him on sight, mewling and rubbing against his legs, even when accompanied by people who fed them. Despite the cats, gophers colonized our yard even while neighbors with identical gardens were spared. Dogs were even more attracted to Dad, ignoring their owners to follow him on his walks.

Pheromones perhaps?

 

[Oldman too]

Put more bluntly , if you wrap your fibre in rat food, what do you expect the rats to do ?!

They could at least say thank you.

 

[artis]

At the risk of appearing unscientific on an engineering forum, some people seem to attract animals.

My father was allergic to fur, never fed our many critters and harshly kicked pets out of his path. Nonetheless, our many cats swarmed him on sight, mewling and rubbing against his legs, even when accompanied by people who fed them. Despite the cats, gophers colonized our yard even while neighbors with identical gardens were spared. Dogs were even more attracted to Dad, ignoring their owners to follow him on his walks.

Pheromones perhaps?

I think that is a real thing even if it has no scientifically rigorous explanation.
I think it's a combination of emotion, character, expression etc. For example how dogs feel when a human is afraid of them and then they feel empowered, meanwhile someone who seems unmoved makes the dog be afraid of him.

 

[some bloke]

Ah, it's the atmospheric railway all over again...

it's quite amusing when you consider just how many tests they must have put these coatings through, and not once did they think to offer it to the wildlife. Weird how by "thinking of nature", they neglected to think of nature!