What's That? That's Neat. Toronto Hydro visual trivia showcases work around the city.

TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2013 /CNW/ - What's that?  That's neat.  This may seem like a pretty mundane item, but this cone-shaped wildlife guard saves lives.  It saves the lives of hundreds of animals - like raccoons and squirrels - from meeting an untimely death.  These guards are attached above pole-top transformers.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) focuses on providing safe and reliable electricity to the city.  Wildlife guards not only help protect furry residents from electrocution, they prevent outages as a result of these incidents.  Every year, approximately 10 per cent of power outages are caused by animals that come into contact with Toronto Hydro equipment.

Squirrels and other animals are not electrocuted when they run across power lines. It's when their body makes contact with both the power line and a transformer - they basically become a conduit for electricity to flow through, killing or seriously harming them.

In 2012, Toronto Hydro installed over 2,500 wildlife guards at a cost of approximately $15,000 (material cost only).

While the cost of repairing a pole-top transformer is manageable, the cost of an outage is a lot greater in terms of animal welfare and customer inconvenience.

Our World. Our City. Our Responsibility. See what we are doing to be safe, reliable and sustainable at torontohydro.com/responsibility

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Image with caption: "Toronto Hydro visual trivia showcases work around the city. What's that?  That's neat.  This may seem like a pretty mundane item, but this cone-shaped wildlife guard saves lives.  It saves the lives of hundreds of animals - like raccoons and squirrels - from meeting an untimely death.  These guards are attached above pole-top transformers. (CNW Group/Toronto Hydro Corporation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131203_C7053_PHOTO_EN_34253.jpg

Image with caption: "Toronto Hydro visual trivia showcases work around the city. A pole-top transformer with a wildlife guard above.  What's that?  That's neat.  This may seem like a pretty mundane item, but this cone-shaped wildlife guard saves lives.  It saves the lives of hundreds of animals - like raccoons and squirrels - from meeting an untimely death. (CNW Group/Toronto Hydro Corporation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131203_C7053_PHOTO_EN_34252.jpg

SOURCE: Toronto Hydro Corporation

Tanya Bruckmueller, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited
[email protected]

W: 416-542-2621
C: 416-903-0440