Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 OK, I'm putting a $10 bounty out as a reward out for the person or persons who catch and kill the animal(s) that's been chewing through an extension cord, and now my USB cable, for my LOR display!Here's the (long) story: About a week ago, I noticed that a few lights weren't working. Checked the extention cords; they were OK. Checked the LOR unit itself; no problems there. Plugged something else into the affected channel on the LOR unit, and that worked fine. So I knew it was the extention cord. Pulled on it, and instantly it came apart. Appeared that some small animal chewed on the line. No dead animal was around, thus he got away. Replaced the line, no big deal.Now, fast forward to last night. My wife comes back to the bedroom, and says the lights were blinking. I go check it out myself, and it's dark. I chalk my wife's comment up to having a few too many to drink last night! Now again, hit the fast forward button again to this afternoon. We come back from watching the Philadelphia Eagles suck today, drive down the street, and I happen to catch the lights blinking. Noticed it was doing it every few minutes or so, during a time when there was no show going on. Now I'm a little confused.So, the show time begins. Inside, the music sounds fine. I go look at the lights flash, and they are horribly out of sequence. During the one song when they should all be on, either random ones are on, or none at all. So, I go back to check the box again, and again, no problems. Thinking about the other night, I bend down to look at the ground, and see my USB cable all chewed up!!! ARRRRGH!!!!!Now, this is in my backyard near the fence, so it's not random mischief by someone, but most likely a squirrel or some other small animal playing havoc with my wires!!!So...I guess I'm finding me a new USB cable, since there won't be enough time to order and have one sent by 10/31. And, I think I will pick up my wiring off the ground - at least in that area!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Usually, if squirrels have something they like better than wires to chew on, they will. I put dried corn out for the squirellies to chomp on. It doesn't ALWAYS save my cords, but I feel I have less chewed cords when the squirrels are fat and happy... I think of the corn as a "peace offering". I've tried to "eliminate" the enemy, but the way they reproduce, there is little chance of that succeeding. Dead squirrels are not the answer. D.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I can loan the use of my trusty gaurd dog Koas. She wakes me a few times a month (usually around 3am, my personal fav!!) to the recent cornering of some sort of critter. About 2 months ago, she got herself one of the largest raccoons I have ever seen!!! Keep in mind I live in the city so it may have been the size of an average squirrel.:laughing:We have a koi pond and them thar critters try to come around for a free easy meal.You can use her if you really need to but sometimes what I go out in the backyard to looks like something from a chainsaw horror movie. It aint pretty:devil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I had one of those cridders chew through 5000 lights on my mega tree one year. Never got it... good luck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Couple of suggestions. If you have any of this around the house.Vaseline or Cooking Spray...put it on the cords...makes them slippery and hard to get a hand on, so the squirrel has trouble holding on to chew it.Castor Oil...also rub on the cords...they don't like the taste of it.Sprinkle Black Pepper or Cayenne around where the cords are...they don't like the smell and usually avoid this area, but you do have to reapply after every rain. Cayenne Pepper should not be used when cats are in the area...as from what I understand a cat will walk in it, lick its paws clean and if it gets in their eyes...well it isn't good.Squirrels also aren't supposed to like the smell of mint (got any candy canes laying around) or used kitty litter....though I don't think most people care for the smell of used kitty litter either.Now if it were me...I would spray the cords with some cooking spray and then put the cayenne pepper on...one taste of that and the squirrel will cross the street to avoid your house.Worse comes to worse...leave the lights on and fry that little bugger...I hear they taste just like chicken. (Just Kidding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 But they do taste like chicken when fried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 OK, we are back to normal now. Once again, Wal-Mart to the rescue.I will say that while the squirrel (or whatever it was) came up with some really nice lighting effects, it definitely did not have the ability to match the lights to the beat of the music. And left too many dark moments too. Temp fix for the cat5e line vs. squirrel problem is just to keep it off the ground. Maybe in the next few days (hard with darkness arriving earlier now) I'll try to reroute all my wires off the ground in the problem area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I had a friend with a problem like that. She borrowed my video camera and found out it was a rabbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Randy 9040 wrote: I had a friend with a problem like that. She borrowed my video camera and found out it was a rabbit.Silly Rabbit,LOR is for "one of THOSE people." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 DownTown wrote: dried corn I read it too fast and thought it said de con i got all upset for nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 We tried the cyannee pepper in the seed trick. It fails bad! THe squirls in Williamsburg must LOVE spicy bird seed B/C they seem to eat it faster! So to help we have been using 'Paint Balls' works great. and after some well-aimed shots those critters stay away for a few months. But with the paint-ball you kinda need to see the squirl or rabbit. Good luck!--Daniel L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Paintball? Gotta turn those guns down low to avoid killing the poor thing or wiping out a reindeer or two... But, good idea... I didn't think about the squirrel population that lives in my front yard... Maybe I'll start now with the avoidance techniques.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Daniel wrote: We tried the cyannee pepper in the seed trick. It fails bad! THe squirls in Williamsburg must LOVE spicy bird seed B/C they seem to eat it faster!--Daniel LSquirrels that like spicy...must be some immigrant ones from Mexico.What is amazing about squirrels is that if they want something bad enough, they will try to figure out a way to get to it. My late father in law had one that would get into the bird feeder. He tried everything...including greasing the pole. The more he did to prevent him, the more the squirrel worked at getting to the bird feeder. It was like a obstacle course for him. That is when my father in law gave up and started putting out food for the squirrel also. So you can see who won that battle of wits.We have a lot of squirrels around here but not much trouble with them eating wires and such. It might be because a lot of people do feed them. I know this because I am always finding peanuts that have been hidden in my flower pots.I had a rabbit that ate through the wire of one of my set of pathway lights last year...I think the wires were in his way. So I used the cooking spray with cayenne pepper and he didn't bother them after that.I try to do the most environmentally, and animal friendly thing 1st.Carol Wright sells things called squirrel chaser pouches. I haven't tried them to see if they work but might be worth a try if anyone is having some real problems.http://www.carolwright.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Out of sheer curiosity, how are you using a USB cable outside?USB cables don't have a very long max length (a few meters). You can just run your cat 3/cat5 cable outside and keep the USB connections inside. The squirrel might still munch it, but it's a lot cheaper than a new USB cable...-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 I misrepresented the line that was chewed in the OP. It was my cat5e line that was chewed on, not my USB. My bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 roadnut wrote: I misrepresented the line that was chewed in the OP. It was my cat5e line that was chewed on, not my USB. My bad!Aha, thanks. I actually wondered if that's what you meant.-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Maybe it's Wilbur, the christmas mouse, looking for material to build his winter nesting.:laughing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 A Daisy Red-Ryder lever-action BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time!:] Say bye-bye varmint! Of course for some extra $$$$ you could armor the cable with flexible conduit. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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