What unusual "scourge" has emerged, only in the past 30 years, to North American utility poles?

ghosttowner

I'll throw out what I think is an educated guess and that is the incredible costs to utilities and ultimately the consumer of copper wire theft from utility poles. I know locally that in Las Vegas, large areas sometimes lose power when thieves take the wire...although sometimes, they end up getting fried! http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/docs/copper042707.pdf Jun 02 09, 10:02 AM

Datsmeharse

Ooh, good answer G-towner! That's a true scourge and I suppose qualifies as unusual! What I was thinking of is not originally from this continent and sometimes causes transformer fires. (Though I suppose foreign copper thieves playing campfire marshmallow also qualifies too lol) Jun 02 09, 10:46 AM

Verbonica

The Monk Parakeet: "The nests of Monk parakeets have been the cause of some problems for theutility industry in Oregon and elsewhere (Nehls 2002 and Buhler et al 2001). Iftheir nests are built on light or power supply poles, the bulbs or transformers can overheat, causing fires and blackouts." Native to South America, they were first imported into the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:QtzkfyWO-wkJ:www.oregon.gov/OISC/docs/pdf/monkpara.pdf+pest+causes+fires+in+transformer+utility+poles&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&ie=UTF-8 Jun 02 09, 12:01 PM

Datsmeharse

Monk Parakeets is what I was thinking of V, the transformers in the northern climes provide warmth to help them survive the winters. They're indigenous to Argentina and surrounding areas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_parakeet Jun 02 09, 1:46 PM