When I was a small child growing up in the middle of nowhere Mississippi anytime our local TV station had a technical problem they would put up a slide of a cartoon squirrel chewing through electric cables. It was kind of humorous and allowed us, the viewer, to know that something had gone wrong at the station.

Flash forward to today, technical problems and power outages are not as common place as they once were but sometimes they happen for the strangest reasons. Everytime our lights go out on a beautiful sunny day I think of two things. One, did I remember to pay our bill and two, I wonder if a cartoon squirrel bit into one of the cables.

I was surprised to learn that animals are quite often the cause of power issues. Even though utility companies go to a lot of trouble to make their sites, poles, transmission lines, and facilities animal proof. This video is an example of what can happen when an animal gets too close to high voltage. By the way, the same thing can happen to you so be safe around electricity and if you're going to be digging make sure you call before you turn that first shovel full of dirt. 

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