Inexplicable damage

[bario1]

Sometimes I wonder what on Earth goes on at my allotment when I’m not there. Yesterday I went down and found that the small solar powered pump that I put in my pond had been yanked out of the pond and dumped about 6 feet away (that’s the length of the wire between the pump and the battery unit which sits by the pond). The wire itself had been severed about 3” from the pump. Nothing else was damaged, the battery pack and solar panel were as I left them.
Could an animal do this? I can’t see why a person would want to?

[Bren In Pots]

Could someone have spotted them so they dropped the goods and walked away trying to look innocent.

[bario1]

But why sever the wire?

[Small pumpkin]

My first thought was a heron. But I can't back up that thought with a reason. And I'm not sure a heron could sever the wire.

[bario1]

There are herons living on the nearby river... but I also doubt they could sever an electrical cord. A fox?

Also, can the cord be fixed? It needs to be waterproof obviously.

[burnie]

You could set up a sand trap to see if you get footprints to find out what the culprit is, a Badger seems the only wild animal we have that is strong enough to pull out a pump, but who only knows why it would.

[Snoop Puss]

Perhaps an animal thought the pump was a fish and yanked it out... Can't think of anything else. Severing a wire, though, takes some strength. Would it be likely to hurt itself with an electrical charge if chewing through it? Does it look more like scissor or knife damage to the insulation?

[4Shoes]

Sure you would be able to join cable with a cuck box and some sealant. Ok a bit more thought needed.

Know you get boxes with rubber real and screw down lids, so all you'd need to ensure is sealing the entry points for the cable.


If it's a clean cut unlikely to be an animal. They like a good chew Assume it was powered, so it would have got a shock. Perhaps why it was dropped in a hurry.

[bario1]

It’s a very small pump, can’t weigh more than 300g, I’m sure a fox or a heron could lift it. There aren’t badgers on our site, thankfully!
The break in the wire isn’t a clean cut, but doesn’t look particularly chewed either. It’s a mystery!

[Two_Sheds]

Get a night vision camera. If nothing else, it’s interesting to see what wildlife you get up the plot.
I have visitors who drop ciggy butts on my path, and I’ve found crisp & baccy packets in my daleks. Also handfuls of broken glass, nails and occasionally rotten spuds

[Bluenowhere]

My betting is a fox.

[Mr Bones]

I've witnessed this type of damage on a number of occasions caused by a fox. They shear the cable with their rear cutting teeth and when the fancy takes them they just can't leave things alone. We lost a pond pump in this way so anchored the next one (quite a fair sized pump) to a blue brick. The fox hoicked it out, brick and all and scissored the flex into tiny pieces. Lucky for him the power was disconnected.
On the lotty too any lines or cables strung out at fox height are fair game for being chomped.

[bario1]

^^^ mystery solved then! Thanks Mr Bones, don’t think I’ll be replacing a £40 pump if there’s any chance of it happening again.
I’m glad the pump was switched off at least.

I do have one of those bush cameras, but I’m worried about it getting nicked if I leave it outside.

[bikermike]

I had a fox eat through the cable for my (mains) pond pump in my garden. not sure if I'm pleased or not that it was off at the time.

You can get IP50-rated connectors (ie underwater) from screwfix. they aren't cheap, but are cheaper than a new pump. oh and very fiddly - make sure you know in advance which end is which and line all the bits up on the wires properly before you fix it. I've covered the wire in chicken wire to keep it unchewed in future.

[Cadalot]

Rats ate the nylon rope on the weight of my comfrey pipe, I replaced it with a metal chain after the second time they did it.