CommScope: Network vs. Squirrel

Having a squirrel problem? Are these and other rodents chewing through your cables? In CommScope’s edition of “Network vs. Squirrel” your problems are solved!
Five years ago, CommScope introduced their patented Alternative Jacket material on their coaxial trunk and distribution products. The trick to keeping these rodents from tearing through your cables is the polymer blend of which these jackets are comprised. The blend uses food-grade additives such as bittering agents and capsaicins to send your rodents running for a mint and a glass of water from the bitterness and heat! Not only does this ensure the safety of your cables, but the animal’s safety, as well. Due to the product’s success, CommScope is now extending the Alternative Jacket to other products lines which include fiber optic cables and coaxial drop cables.

To read more about this product’s proven history continue reading the article below: "CommScope Helps Win Another Battle of Network vs. Squirrel."

Post Originally appeared on CommScope's Blog.

The people of CommScope pride themselves on their ability to develop products that solve problems our customers are facing in the field. Yes, including the problem of rodents chewing on cables!

We were first in the industry to introduce our patented Alternative Jacket material on our coaxial trunk and distribution products five years ago. It is a polymer blend that uses food-grade additives such as bittering agents and capsaicins to deter rodents from chewing on the jackets. This combination of “bitter” and “heat” have proven to be successful enough to deter squirrels and other rodents, forcing them to change their chewing behavior while also reducing harm to the animal itself.

Based on its popularity and success, the Alternative Jacket offering is being extended to other CommScope product lines including fiber optic cables (first in the industry to do so) and coaxial drop cables. This expanded offering is an example of how we listened to our customers as they voiced frustration with having to repair damage caused by chewing vermin.

Squirrels and other rodents have teeth that continue to grow throughout their lives. To keep these teeth from growing too long, they must “cut” their teeth back by chewing on material that is soft enough to not break them, yet strong enough to wear them down. Cable components like steel armor and aluminum meet this need perfectly. Many vermin use aerial cables to aid in this chewing process. This resulting damage can result in poor signal quality or, worse, services outages. Our Alternative Jacket is making them think twice about chewing on our cables.

Our product has a proven history. In fact, we conducted a seven-year, multi-state, multi-location field study. The study consisted of placing samples of bare coaxial cable, jacketed coaxial cable, jacketed/flooded coaxial cable, and Alternative Jacketed cable at locations where cables had to be replaced several times per year because of squirrel damage. The field study clearly demonstrated that squirrels selectively chewed on the cables that were not covered in our Alternative Jacket material. Samples with Alternative Jacket were typically found to have only slight cosmetic damage; however, the cables did not have to be replaced.

So, the next time you see a squirrel running from pole to pole on a cable, hope that it is running on a cable protected by CommScope’s Alternative Jacket. Otherwise it may take a bite out of your broadband services.