Friday, November 20

Power For Squirrels Coincidence

Squirrels clip art

I didn't realise the problems that squirrels can cause. I came across the following which, of course, includes a coincidence.

Ashland, Wis: It was an unlucky day for two squirrels and hundreds of power customers. A spokesman for Xcel Energy said a squirrel came in contact with an overhead transformer and knocked out service to 177 customers. Power was restored in just over an hour, and repair crews found the remains of the unfortunate squirrel.

By coincidence, another squirrel got into a substation 40 miles away in Ironwood, Mich. and caused a temporary outage that affected 1,400 customers in Ironwood and two nearby communities,

The energy spokesman is quoted as saying: "We kind of liken it to anyone who's had a bird feeder and tried to keep the squirrels out. They find a way."

I then read in an old issue of the Free Lance-Star that in Fredericksburg a squirrel shorted a transformer at a substation behind the Park & Shop shopping centre, which served 3,500 customers, And (perhaps by coincidence) in the same month "...another squirrel blazed into the power company's logbooks when it shorted a circuit breaker at a substation. Some 3,400 customers were in the dark for 37 minutes."

And then I found yet another story in The Spokesman Review:



"Spokane County sherriff's deputies converged on Mead High School Friday morning when a deputy at the school heard what he thought was a gunshot and saw a man running through the woods near the school.

"Three patrol officers and two detectives were on their way when Deputy Ron Mulvey found the culprit.


"A squirrel shorted out an electricity transformer on a utility pole near the school, causing a transformer to explode. Mulvey said the squirrel was still smouldering when he found it.


"The deputies concluded that it was just a coincidence someone was running into the woods when the squirrel fried itself."

So look out, look out there's a squirrel about ...

Other Random Posts:
How Egg Custard Saved His Life
The Spooky Ring That Keeps Disappearing
The White Dove As A Messenger Of The Dead

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2 comments:

  1. I love this! Squirrels are fun to watch and can be delightful visitors in the yard or vicious and mischievous vandals eating their way into attics and basements!

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    1. I didn't realise the power of squirrels. We occasionally get one in our garden - but they seem to be disappearing from the trees opposite our house.

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