Another documented case of Animal Arson:
E 3-1 and E-1 knocked down a small grass fire at Willsie and North St. Fire is out. Caused by a squirrel in the power line. pic.twitter.com/CB0yhyupR0
— Rapid City Fire Dept (@RapidCityFire) October 31, 2016
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Darren.
Grey squirrels are a growing menace in this country because so few people
are trapping them and most of their predators have become extinct or
are an endangered species . I suspect there are more than 200 million of them
across the US alone.
As you can see from the link below, this problem has become so obvious and costly
to insurance companies that they are adding an ambiguous clause to power plant
insurance policies that allows them to avoid paying for damages caused by
“arcing”. but the real purpose of this ambiguous clause is not usually discovered
until policy holders (ie Power companies) file claims for damages and are denied.
2016-11-09-Court case: City of West Liberty VS. Employers Mutual Casualty Co.
(319) 627-2814 = Jacob Lane · Wednesday, November 9, 2016 “Well, on Nov. 7, 2014,
around 11 a.m. a squirrel crawled into the city’s electrical substation, came into contact
with the main transformer and caused a city-wide power outage. The result was a
small explosion, witnessed by many community members. The transformer went up in
a bright light and black smoke poured into the sky. After all was said and done,
EMC neglected to pay $213,524.76 in damage to the transformer due to an “arcing”
clause in the original policy. Specifically: “[EMC does] not pay for loss caused by arcing
or by electrical currents other than lightning. But if arcing or electrical currents results
in fire, “we” cover the loss or damage caused by that fire.” “Arcing” occurs when a strong
discharge of electrical current jumps a gap or medium between two electrodes.”
http://www.westlibertyindex.com/article.php?viewID=6841
Squirrels are easy to trap and then send to “squirrel heaven”.
I have permanently removed almost 70 squirrels from our small suburban
property in less than 2 years. I then leave them for a fox that lives in a
nearby woods. Win-Win
There are never EVER any squirrel headlines that anyone in their “right mind”
would consider to be positive. They almost always involve some sort of tragedy.
-News.GoogleSearch
squirrel+fire+-propane
https://www.google.com/#q=squirrel+fire+-propane&hl=en&tbm=nws
If you google for squirrel stories every 2-3 weeks you will be surprised
at the problems they are causing around the country.
(Some nitwit burned down an apartment house cooking a squirrel
with a propane torch but the link above will cause google
to ignore those stories.)
There are videos on Youtube that explain how to make your own trap.
But the #1 problem I have with commercial traps is that birds can easily
steal the bait without setting off the trap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTLxM0cAhkk
This one seems like the best and easiest to make
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2kH1IM1HSo
Small towns should offer a small bounty to people willing to trap squirrels
in my opinion.
I have some other tips for people wanting to trap squirrels.
Bill Z
Folsom, PA
devilsadvacat at gmail.com
Dennis, as a retired electrician I can pretty much assure you it was the charred remains of the squirrel falling off the pole (most likely from contact with the primary bushing on a transformer) that started the fire. I’ve seen this with squirrels and birds and they were never “OK” afterwards.
Thanks Carl, as a retired wildland fireman I’ve seen this happen before. Just didn’t know the little bugger was up a power pole. Thanks again
Is the squirrel OK?