humble3d Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 A terrifying map of squirrel attacks on the U.S. power grid Squirrels Blamed for Hundreds of Power Outages January 13, 2016 Despite growing concerns surrounding the vulnerability of America's power grid to cyber attacks, it appears that a more mundane threat has been quietly wreaking havoc on the system for years: squirrels. The website Cyber Squirrel 1 has been tracking incidents of power outages caused by squirrels and other animals around the world since 1987 and the numbers are staggering. An incredible 623 power outages have been due to the rambunctious rodents over that period of time with an amazing 137 squirrel-induced blackouts in 2015 alone. Even more worrisome is that the website suggests that this past year's count may be even lower than the real tally, since it relies on newspaper articles to track the outages. Aside from squirrels, other natural threats to the power grid include birds, raccoons, snakes, and, somehow, slugs. But squirrels remain at the top of the danger depth chart due to their large population, intelligence, and maneuverability. In light of last month's story about squirrel attacks in California, one can only hope that a coordinated effort from the rogue rodents is not looming on the horizon. Source: The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/12/a-terrifying-and-hilarious-map-of-squirrel-attacks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flitox Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 oh my god, the USA is under attack!!!!....from kamikaze squirrels let's hope the NSA will manage to do the job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiC Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Squirrels have been electrocuting themselves for years.. blowing up things sometimes in the process. One fried itself on my homes alley pole mounted transformer... made darkness for maybe an hour until power co came and reset the fuse/jacks. Obvious clue.. dead toasted squirrel, with no hard hat on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurch234 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Quote other natural threats to the power grid include birds, raccoons, snakes, and, somehow, slugs Some years ago I heard a big explosion and the lights went out. The cause was a crow who landed on a transformer about 200 feet from my residence. The utility guy told me the crow was pretty fried up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz123 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Now we have to worry about crows & squirrels, too!? Like ISIS wasn't enough? Do they have training camps in Afghanistan for critters also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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