IP Security & AV

Oh rats! Rodents chew through fiber cable, take down city law enforcement’s surveillance camera

March 7, 2014

The camera system in the Scottish city Inverness was used in more than 400 missing-persons cases, the BBC reports.

The BBC is reporting that rodents chewed through the fiber-optic cables that support the surveillance system operated and used by law enforcement in the city of Inverness in Scotland. This story pegs the damage at £4,800. “Highland Council said the rodents caused the damage while sharpening their teeth on the toughened outer casing of the cable,” the BBC further reported.

The report said Inverness used the surveillance system “in 406 missing person cases in 2012/13 … Police also used the cameras in dealing with road safety incidents on 356 occasions …”

You can read the full BBC report here.

Back in the day, Cabling Installation & Maintenance used to run a monthly column called Ask Donna. In it, Donna Ballast would answer readers’ technical questions. On three separate occasions (this original column, then this follow-up and this letter from a reader), the column covered the topic of rodents causing damage to cables.