This Minnesota Animal Causes Power Outage to 4,000 Homes

Well this isn't the kind of thing that happens every day, right? A squirrel was in contact with substation equipment, according to MVEC's power outage page. Approximately 4,000 households in Prior Lake, Minnesota were without power Sunday morning because of the incident.

The good news is, that power was restored a little over an hour later. Crews found 'creative ways to get electricity switched over to the homes affected so everyone was back up and running.

It does make you wonder; How often do animals cause power outages, and what kind of animals are typically responsible? Is it always squirrels?

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RACCOONS

According to an article I read from Popular Mechanics, Racoons can cause some damage too. According to the article, a raccoon was found in a substation. Somehow, maybe with those little hands, the raccoon caused a power outage. and unfortunately, ended its life while doing so.

RATS & MICE

In Tokyo, TEPCO, Tokyo's Electric Power Company, said that it found a dead rat near a switchboard that was used to supply power to cooling systems, and apparently also died of an electric shock. This could have been disastrous since the cooling system's job was to cool nuclear fuel rods. The outage lasted about 29 hours.

MONKEYS?

Well...why not? In Kenya, a monkey fell on a transformer at Gitaru Hydroelectric Power Station, which tripped the transformer and caused a blackout all across Kenya. Four hours later, power was restored, and luckily the monkey survived the fall.

BIRD POOP

This one gets a bit disgusting. A flock of pigeons in Japan caused a blackout by pooping on a substation. The Droppings short-circuited street signals and knocked out power to about 25,000 traffic lights and homes in the area.

Lots of other animals have disrupted power like chickens, snakes, weasels, and don't forget bees! I don't even want to think about that one.