Cat & Mouse

My Dad’s an electrical engineer with FirstEnergy so I felt him qualified to comment on this article about a cat and mouse that got electrocuted and caused a widespread power outage in Albania.

Dad:

I don’t know anything about the Albanian power grid, but I’m having trouble thinking of a scenario where a cat and mouse, running “into an area of high-voltage cables and [getting] electrocuted,” would cause a widespread outage. Cables near the ground are insulated and won’t electrocute you. Cables on poles or on substation structures are not a high cat/mouse traffic area and the insulators would generally be too big to allow electrocution of small mammals. Where the insulators are smaller, we’ve had suicidal raccoons and squirrels (but not chasing each other) that have caused local outages, but not an entire city.

Jason:

Didn’t you also have plagues of amorous mayflies?

Dad:

We had enough playful mayflies swarming around an insulator 10 feet tall that they caused a short circuit. Now that was impressive. Those mayflies must have really thought having sex was exciting and they die shortly thereafter anyway, so why not go out “with a bang.”