Wild Wonderful Canada
Officials have now identified the cause of a June 7 power outage that affected only 21 customers, but the fiber optics damage affected Telus (internet) customers in most of the surrounding county. Many residents of northwestern British Columbia were without internet, landline and cellular service for more than eight hours. The lines are located in a swampy area and with the high water levels, there was some difficulty accessing the site, he added. It is not uncommon for utilities to share pole space. A beaver gnawed its way through an aspen tree which then fell on both BC Hydro (electric) lines and a Telus fibre-optic cable line strung along BC power poles. While some enjoyed the unconnected afternoon, the service outage created stress for others because many businesses could only accept cash. “It was a real nuisance. Nobody usually carries cash anymore,” said Brett Johnson, auto technician at the Petro-Canada gas station located at the intersection of Highways 16 and 37 near Kitwanga. “People turning north onto Highway 37 typically fill up at this gas station because the next one is two hours away,” he said. During the outage there were some who didn’t have cash and had to just “take a chance,” Johnson added.
BC Hydro official Bob Gammer said crews identified a beaver as the culprit because of chew marks at the bottom of the downed tree. The felled tree did result in a fire which was responded to by members of the Topley Volunteer Fire Department. This was the second time in just over a year, a beaver has been blamed for causing service outages in northern B.C. “It’s unusual, but it does happen every once in a while,” Gammer said. “So I wouldn’t be a rich man if I had a nickel for every beaver outage, but they do happen.”
Thousands in British Columbia lost power for hours on Friday morning, then again on Saturday morning, and hundreds saw their lights go out again on Sunday afternoon. According to BC Hydro, these outages were all due to bird activity. Osprey were attempting to build nests on power distribution poles. Osprey nests are protected under federal wildlife and bird acts, so the nests can’t just be dismantled. The has built flat platforms on empty poles in the area to try to seduce the Osprey away from power lines. In fact, there is such a pole in the area of the nest that caused the weekend’s outages, but unfortunately for impacted customers, it was already inhabited by a Canada goose.
Jokes to chew on
A beaver is eating a popsicle He has a sour look on his face.
“I wish I’d reach the stick already,” he mumbles to himself.
A rabbit and a beaver are looking up at the majesty of the Hoover Dam
And the beaver says to the rabbit
“Well I didn’t build it but it’s based on my design”
How can you tell that only male beavers cut down trees?
Because they’re all fellers.
A beaver goes into a bar, sees a man standing behind the bar and asks,
“is the bar tender here.”
June 15th Birthdays
1963 – Helen Hunt, 1964 – Courtney Cox Arnette, 1970 – Leah Remini, 1975 – Elizabeth Reaser
1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, 1969 – Ice Cube, 1958 – Wade Boggs, 1983 – Derek Anderson