Severe weather is one of the leading causes of power outages in the Tar Heel State. But so far this month, three blackouts have been due to snakes. A company with offices in North Carolina has come up with a solution.
While electrical substations are protected from the elements, they’re not critter-proof. They’re an ideal nesting site for birds, and as a result, a buffet for hungry, egg-eating snakes. TE Connectivity is a company that’s designed a device to deter top offenders — snakes and squirrels — from gaining access. Its wildlife line guard is a metal tube covered in rows of rotating spikes. Senior Product Manager Luis Puigcerver says they attach to power lines.
"When a squirrel tries to approach it and tries to move across it, it literally self-spins, and the squirrel either falls to the ground or decides this is very unstable and I'm going to return to whence I came from," says Puigcerver.
TE engineers design, develop, and manufacture them at the company’s energy headquarters in Fuquay-Varina, a half-hour south of Raleigh.