Rodent taste preferences

[JohnW2]

A few days ago, I had a look around a house currently undergoing extensive refurbishment, which will include at least a partial (if not complete) rewire. Many of the floorboards had been lifted. The house had been unoccupied for a very appreciable period of time.

The rodents had had a real field day with all the telephone, alarm, Cat5 and coaxial cables - not just near where they went through holes (which usually seems the most common place), but scattered all along their lengths - in some places having totally severed the cables.

However, virtually all the (PVC, seemingly all metric) T+E cables appeared to be essentially intact. There were a few 'teeth marks' in a few places, but we didn't see any examples of them even having even penetrated the sheath.

Is this a common experience? Is there something about T+E which they don't like and/or something about the smaller cables that they find particularly attractive?!

Kind Regards, John

 

[333rocky333]

Afters seeing there mates blown to peices maybe they have evolved.

I was once told that in france they add a repelant during manufacture, perhaps they do the same here

 

[JohnW2]

Afters seeing there mates blown to peices maybe they have evolved.

I suspect your tongue is in your cheek, but there could possibly be a little truth in that ... or. more likely, 'proper Darwinian evolution' - i.e. those rodents which least liked the taste of T+E PVC would be the most likely to survive and pass their ('don't like the taste of T+E') genes on to subsequent generations.

I was once told that in france they add a repelant during manufacture, perhaps they do the same here

That would make sense - but, if it's done (and works) they perhaps ought to put it in all PVC cables, not just 'house wiring cables'!

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

Were the mains cables live or had the power been turned off while the house was unoccupied ?

It might be the rodents detect the electrostatic field and this make them feel un-easy about nibbling the insulation.

 

[clifford1]

I have sometimes seen a live cable nibbled right through to the copper, but never ever a dead rodent next to it.

Have they learned how to work on live electrics, or do their comrades take the corpses away for decent burial?

 

[bernardgreen]

As with birds perched on 11Kv over head lines the rodent can touch a live conductor without getting a shock if there is no second point of contact from body to Ground or Neutral

 

[Aragorn84]

Surely that applies to humans as well, but you still get a belt if you touch a live wire while standing on carpet with shoes on etc....

Something i've never quite understood.

 

[Taylortwocities]

You should either

1. Buy a better quality of carpet
or (better)
2. Properly isolate circuits before working on them.

Simples!

Meerkat

• Taylortwocities
• 11 Dec 2009
• 53

 

[bernardgreen]

but you still get a belt if you touch a live wire while standing on carpet with shoes on etc.

Provided the carpet and shoes are dry the "belt" is via the capacitive path from body to Ground and / or Neutral. The same path that may light up the neon in a screwdriver ( or may not light it giving a false "dead" indication ).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You should either

1. Buy a better quality of carpet
or (better)
2. Properly isolate circuits before working on them.

or
3. Stop wetting yourself just before working on live cables.

 

[JohnW2]

Were the mains cables live or had the power been turned off while the house was unoccupied ? ... It might be the rodents detect the electrostatic field and this make them feel un-easy about nibbling the insulation.

Turned off - so that can't be the reason.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I have sometimes seen a live cable nibbled right through to the copper, but never ever a dead rodent next to it.

Same here.

Have they learned how to work on live electrics, or do their comrades take the corpses away for decent burial?

I don't know about a decent burial - taken away to be eaten might be more likely! I've certainly found the remnants of dead rodents distant from the point of cable chewing!

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

Maybe the rodents have police records and don't like any copper.

 

[JohnW2]

As with birds perched on 11Kv over head lines the rodent can touch a live conductor without getting a shock if there is no second point of contact from body to Ground or Neutral

With a well rodent-chewed T+E, the 'second point of contact' is often not far away

Untitled

• JohnW2
• 24 Nov 2012
• 7

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Afters seeing there mates blown to peices maybe they have evolved.

I suspect your tongue is in your cheek, but there could possibly be a little truth in that ... or. more likely, 'proper Darwinian evolution' - i.e. those rodents which least liked the taste of T+E PVC would be the most likely to survive and pass their ('don't like the taste of T+E') genes on to subsequent generations.

I was once told that in france they add a repelant during manufacture, perhaps they do the same here

That would make sense - but, if it's done (and works) they perhaps ought to put it in all PVC cables, not just 'house wiring cables'!

I'm not sure how discriminatory a rat's sense of taste is, given some of the things they eat.

Also, they might chew on cables to wear their teeth down, not as a food source.