How to prevent squirrels from using electric wire as a runway

Question

Does anyone know of a way to prevent squirrels from running on electric wires?

Squirrels are using the electric wire that brings electric into our home as a runway. I see them running both directions, both to our house and to the electric pole.

At least so far, I do not see them gaining access to the interior of my home. However, I don't want to wait until that happens to address the problem.

The electric comes into our home about 2' below the roofline and about 10' above the ground. We have metal siding and a metal roof. I have seen them getting to the wire by climbing the electric pole (not on our property). Once they get about a foot from where the electric comes into the house, they jump onto our roof. I have walked the roof and cannot figure out why our roof would interest them. Obviously, we don't throw food up there. I cannot find any nest or damage caused by the squirrels.

Answer 1

That wire belongs to the power company. And you can't put anything there without their permission.

That said, the key to preventing squirrel home invasions is not the power company line. That is positively in their territory. You can and should expect their activity there. If your weatherhead is terminated properly, this will only give them access to your roof (also their territory).

The key is to maintain the integrity of your home's walls. Don't be sloppy. Secure openings. Put filler in the hole for the A/C line-sets. Put gratings across the vents for bathroom, range hood and dryer, soffit vents, etc. . If you're not interested or able to do this type of home-crafting, bring in a handyman who can.

You really need to do this. If squirrels can get in, then so can much worse vermin, like rats or birds. Ever hear of the squirrel flu? Nope.

Answer 2

There are many types of animal baffles that can prevent this like the one shown below. You would need the plastic/PVC version and install it where the power company wires attach to your wires. Check with your power company since many will install them at your house or at the pole.

Here's one very similar to the ones we installed, not affiliated in any way

https://www.critterguard.org/products/line-guard

Answer 3

some sort of rat guard perhaps

Answer 4

Relocate the squirrels.

I had a problem with red squirrels chewing through the trash can outside, and eventually chewed through my screen and entered the house. I trapped them with a small animal trap, and would release them in a wooded area somewhere between home and work which was 40 miles away. I caught 4 and they never came back after relocating them. I also caught a skunk, which wasn't as bad as it sounds. A few people walked past it without even noticing it was there, it looked like it was sleeping when I opened the trap.

Answer 5

I don't know if or how you could safely do this on a high voltage wire but the best way to keep squirrels from passing a horizontal wire is a string of 2 liter drink bottles drilled through the top and bottom. You need at least 5 or 6 of them or squirrels can just jump over. They don't need to be held in place. They drift towards the sagging part of the wire and they stay together there. Squirrels try to jump over but when they land on the bottles the bottles flip over and there's nowhere for the squirrels to grip.

Sometimes a squirrel can get a grip on the wire between bottles. You can prevent that by cutting off the bottoms of all the intermediate bottles so they ride over the conical part of the next bottle, and tape or staple them in place that way.

Again, I've never seen this done on high voltage wires and I cannot imagine how I would go about that myself.

I think the baffle idea from @JACK is more promising but for horizontal use I think you'd need to find one that is bigger than 8 inches in radius, it doesn't need to be conical, and you'd need to figure out a safe way to clamp them to the live wires, probably not with sharp metal hardware.

EDIT: the issue of safe installation of bottles is addressed by the fit-for-purpose product in the other answer. That product combines baffles and rollers that are assembled over existing wires and that product is more robust than drink bottles, hopefully will last longer.