Posted on 05/11/2024 8:14:45 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
Eco-friendly brake cables are being eaten by foxes, after manufacturers switched from petroleum-based insulation to soy, forcing owners to wrap their cars in tarpaulins.
Recent photos show multiple cars covered in blue plastic for protection after a spate of attacks in Worthing, West Sussex, with locals claiming at least 20 vehicles were targeted by foxes.
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy, said the animals may be attracted to the soy-based insulation on brake wires.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Lol! That is an old problem. They used to add organic fillers in wire insulation and had to quit for the same reason. Rats...
We are two wild and crazy guys!
At my house, the chipmunks eat the soy insulation before the foxes have a chance.
Mice nest in cars in the US and eat the wires. But foxes!?
So what they learned from the problems of rodents eating electrical insulation on wiring, is to put the same plant based coatings on brakes lines ?
If it’s biodegradable, something biological will try to degrade it.
Chevy does that with their cars too. Park outside - go on vacation and come back to a $800 repair for the check engine light... Squirrels love the stuff.
Damn squirrels did the same to my Buick. They ate the wiring.
I now feed the local stray cat that comes by. He likes my food and squirrels, problem solved. I like him, he likes me but demands petting. We made a deal and it works. Unfortunately I now pay the vet bills as he has become my cat.
Cats are smart.
I don’t like to have poisons around since we have so many animals on the place. I use a small Ozone machine under the hoods and plug them in like you would an engine heater.
Also keep one in the tree house. Keeps everything out. I have no idea why but it changes 02 into 03 temporarily and evidently gives them a headache or?? Kills the bugs in the tree house.
On two separate occasions, squirrels got up into the engine compartment of a friend’s truck and chewed thru the wiring harnesses. The second time cost over $3,000 to repair.
Mice had a good meal on the headlight wiring of my brand new company car a month after I got it. Of course the manufacturer wouldn’t stand behind it and wanted to charge us $1500 for a new wiring harness.
A few minutes with a wire nut also fixed it.
Neighbor lost electrical wiring to mice. Soy coating
I’ve had wires on my trucks eaten because of the soy content. My ACE plastic water meter cover has almost been destroyed by animals eating it. I had to make a new cover out of expanded metal to keep them from continuing it. Also ACE no longer has replacements for that style of water meter covers.
GD pack rat destroyed thousands of dollars of machinery when I went on a two week vacation. At least foxes eat rodents like rats.
interesting
In the Spring of 1942, the German Army found many of its tanks were inoperable, because Russian mice had eaten the insulation off the wires. Hitler was not pleased.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.