For the second time in a year, a beaver is to blame for the loss of the telephone and internet in northern British Columbia.
Ayon BC Hydroan animal bit a fallen tree and damaged several telephone poles and fiber optic cable near Highway 16, 14 miles east of Houston on Tuesday.
This has resulted in the loss of telephone, television and Internet service in some communities in the northwest of the province.
Telus reported service losses in Burns Lake, Topley, Terrace, Prince George, Kitimat, Smithers, Granisle and Hazelton. The outages also affected Prince Rupert.
Bitten a good tooth
It wasn’t until after the repairs that employees realized it was likely a beaver was behind the fallen tree, said Simi Heer, spokesman for BC Hydro.
They discovered marks under the tree showing that the tree had been chewed by a beaver, the speaker explained. He said there was no indication that the beaver had been harmed.
Measures have been put in place to prevent disturbances caused by wild animals, according to BC Hydrobut incidents still occur occasionally.
In April, nearly 900 customers in Tumbler Ridge, in the northeast of the province, lost Internet service after a beaver chewed the fiber optic cable.
Telus then called the incident a strange and very canadian.
In files from Michelle Gomez
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
