What animals chew on electric wire?

If you have wild animals in the attic, then one of the dangers you are exposed to is chewed electrical wires. There are different animals that can chew and gnaw on the wires, but the most common are rats and squirrels. When wire has been damaged, it may lead to fire hazards and electrical shorts. Sometimes the animal itself can be electrocuted and it may die when it touches these wires, and this lead to more shorts. The animal can also set off a security system when they chew on the system wires.

A person might get electrocuted if they pass near the wire. Children can be victims of the naked wires when they enter into the attic without supervision. The chewed wire has to be covered quickly using a strong plastic.

If the animals chew on the PVC water lines, you may need to do a re-plumbing job. The rodents can chew on water lines and the water will start to leak in your attic and big problems may take place. If you have animal problems in the attic, you will worry about many things and not just scampering and scratching.

Many people have found that their electrical wires have been chewed on by rodents in the attic. Even if many animals may take a bite on occasion, the rodents like mice and rats have been characterized as having chewing behavior.

There are different reasons why rodents chew on the wires:

The rodents may have a hard time controlling the length of their teeth if they grow quickly. The animal will not be able to chew if the teeth become too long, so they will chew on different things they can find around to cut down the length of their teeth.

They may chew to make the teeth stronger. Herbivorous animals require stronger teeth so that they can feed on the hard grains; this is why they will chew on the electrical wires to strengthen the teeth.

It is hard for an animal to dig in the hard grain or in harder plants using blunt teeth, so they chew on wires to sharpen the teeth. They can also grind them on a hard surface besides the wire.

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