Internet Outage in Canada Blamed on Beavers Gnawing Through Fiber Cables (gizmodo.com) 40
Beavers took down internet service for about 900 customers in a remote Canadian community this weekend after gnawing through crucial fiber cables, the Candian Broadcasting Corporation reported Sunday. From a report: The outage, which has since been resolved, also affected 60 cable TV customers and disrupted local cell phone service, according to a statement from the area's provider, Telus. Tumbler Ridge, a tiny municipality in northeastern British Columbia with a population of about 2,000 people, lost service for roughly 36 hours in what Telus described as a "uniquely Canadian disruption!"
"Beavers have chewed through our fibre cable at multiple points, causing extensive damage," said Telus spokesperson Liz Sauve in an email to Gizmodo. "Our team located a nearby dam, and it appears the beavers dug underground alongside the creek to reach our cable, which is buried about three feet underground and protected by a 4.5-inch thick conduit. The beavers first chewed through the conduit before chewing through the cable in multiple locations." After going down early Saturday morning, service was restored just before 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sauve confirmed. In its statement, the company said crews worked "around the clock" to address the issue and determine how far the damage continued up the cable line. Telus brought in additional equipment and technicians to tackle "challenging conditions" due to the fact that the ground above the cable is partially frozen this time of year.
"Beavers have chewed through our fibre cable at multiple points, causing extensive damage," said Telus spokesperson Liz Sauve in an email to Gizmodo. "Our team located a nearby dam, and it appears the beavers dug underground alongside the creek to reach our cable, which is buried about three feet underground and protected by a 4.5-inch thick conduit. The beavers first chewed through the conduit before chewing through the cable in multiple locations." After going down early Saturday morning, service was restored just before 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sauve confirmed. In its statement, the company said crews worked "around the clock" to address the issue and determine how far the damage continued up the cable line. Telus brought in additional equipment and technicians to tackle "challenging conditions" due to the fact that the ground above the cable is partially frozen this time of year.
Crunchy center. (Score:4, Funny)
Wow. Wood flavored cable.
Re:Crunchy center. (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, soy based cabling in cars was suspected of attracting rodents:
"Some believe the culprit could be modern car wiring or, more specifically, the soy-based insulation used to wrap it. This insulation can be an irresistible treat for rats, mice, squirrels, and even rabbits. The issue has become so widespread that several class-action lawsuits have been levied at automakers, with some of the highest-profile cases involving Honda and Toyota."
https://www.caranddriver.com/n... [caranddriver.com]
Re:Crunchy center. (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, soy based cabling in cars was suspected of attracting rodents:
"Some believe the culprit could be modern car wiring or, more specifically, the soy-based insulation used to wrap it. This insulation can be an irresistible treat for rats, mice, squirrels, and even rabbits. The issue has become so widespread that several class-action lawsuits have been levied at automakers, with some of the highest-profile cases involving Honda and Toyota.
Hell, if I were a wild rodent, I'd be suing too!
That's fucking entrapment, man.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
> Scared him off, a month later I'm riding the bike and it dies.
I thought you sat on the mouse, killed it and then tried running diagnostics on it.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably not. Mice will chew up things for nesting and the lulz, not just to eat it. The particularly seem to love hewing rubber things.
Re: (Score:2)
A couple decades ago, some mice took up residence in our car's heater ducts. Not sure if they had access to the wires from there, but one day I turned the fan on and...one of the mice lost its mind. I had to take the car to the dealer to get rid of the smell (they flushed all the ducts with some kind of detergent).
Re: (Score:2)
Does fiber taste better than copper? Better for regularity, right?
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Not that unusual (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I was lead to believe that the majority of internet bandwidth regardless of country was consumed by beaver.
You, sir, have won the Internet for today.
How very Canadian (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Especially since Tim Horton's not really a Canadian company anymore [quora.com].
Re:How very Canadian (Score:5, Funny)
Survival tip: Always carry a short length of fiber in your pocket. If you get lost, bury it in the dirt. When the backhoe guy shows up to break it, get a lift home.
ObSimpsons.... (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeMR-q5OVAA [youtube.com]
Destructive little dudes...
Being Canadian (Score:5, Funny)
We asked the Beavers to stop and they apologized and everything's good.
Re: (Score:3)
Actually, we warned them that if they didn't stop doing that, we'd remove them from our nickels.
Delicious! (Score:2)
A little known fact of fiber optic cables is that they contain delicious, delicious data.
The Irony. (Score:5, Funny)
* Influencer roaming the Canadian wilderness, looking for inspiration *
* Comes across cute beaver gnawing on something *
"Awww! Look at the cute beaver! I need to InstaFaceBook Live this right now!"
(keeps filming)
* chomp chomp *
"Shit. How come I'm offline?!?"
PR Stunt (Score:1)
I blame Wynonna (Score:3)
Looks like they'll have to change the routine (Score:2)
first world problems (Score:2)
Canadian-flavored first world problems.
Typical Canadiana (Score:1)
Have to add that one to the handy dandy "Bullshit ISP Outage Excuses For Public Consumption" Handbook, co-authored by Rogers Bell and Telus, lovingly referred to collectively as Robellus.
And of course, our national broadcaster, the glorious Covid Broadcasting Corporation, swallows them all hook line and sinker when dished.
Dam! (Score:2)
Dam!
Re: (Score:1)
Cover for wiretap... (Score:3)
Nice cover story for the installation of a wiretap. By either a third party government monitoring them or their own government.
Cool cover story bro. Beavers? Haha
No Fear (Score:2)
Why would they do that? (Score:2)
Must be the virus clouded their minds, we're just lucky it was the Beavers.
If it was the Ducks everything would still be fowled up.
Beavers are rodents (Score:2)
A New Meaning... (Score:1)
This problem gives a new meaning for the classic "Busy Beaver" problem of Tibor Radó in 1962. That, or a real-world application.