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‘Uniquely Canadian’: Busy beavers knock out B.C. town’s internet for 36 hours

Click to play video: 'Uniquely Canadian service disruption in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.'
Uniquely Canadian service disruption in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Residents of the northern B.C. town of Tumbler Ridge suddenly found themselves without many modern conveniences last Saturday. – Apr 28, 2021

Residents of the northern B.C. town of Tumbler Ridge suddenly found themselves without many modern conveniences recently.

Further investigation discovered it was a uniquely Canadian service disruption.

Just after 4 a.m. on Saturday, nearly 1,000 Tumbler Ridge residents lost their internet, TV or mobile service.

Click to play video: 'Video shows Toronto animal services retrieve beaver from Royal York subway station'
Video shows Toronto animal services retrieve beaver from Royal York subway station

Telus technicians scrambled to determine what had happened and discovered their main cable, which was buried a metre underground, had been exposed.

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The four and a half inch conduit had been breached and the was cable severed in multiple locations.

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Turns out, the saboteurs were beavers.

They had dug down to the cable and actually used some of the material to build their dam.

A look at the damage the beavers had done to the Telus cable. Courtesy: Telus
A look at the damage the beavers had done to the Telus cable. Courtesy: Telus.
This picture shows how the beavers used some of the cable material to build their dam. Courtesy: Telus
This picture shows how the beavers used some of the cable material to build their dam. Courtesy: Telus.

Technicians went to work in the partially frozen ground and got services back up by Sunday afternoon.

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