Does the electric in cables attract rats?

[BrawnC]

I have small pond and I want to run a filter 24/7. I have a few sticklebacks in a 700L pond. However my wife will not have it on over night as an electrician said the hum of the electric attracts rats, and she has a phobia. Has anyone heard this too ? Experienced this issue?
Thanks for any help/ advice.
BrawnC

 

[mrsclem]

Never heard that! I have both my ponds running 24/7 and no rats!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Not that I’ve ever heard of. We’ve had one pond running for 6 years, and currently have power running to 2 stock tanks for the past 2 years. We have occasionally had a rat or two, but in no way would I say that they were “attracted” to anything other than bird seed.

 

[BrawnC]

Hi ,thank you for the welcome.
Thank you, too , for the comments . Maybe I can calm her fears with your answers.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Well, that's a new one for me. In other words, NOPE! Never heard of rats being attracted to pond electricity. I mean, a constant water source is a good attractant for wildlife, but not to the point of only attracting vermin.

 

[j.w]

@BrawnC
Have had my pump running 24/7 for over 15 yrs and I've never heard of rats being attracted to electric hum. If that was the case we would all have to get rid of all our freezers or anything else that hummed in our homes/garages/shops etc. Get a cat,lol!

 

[poconojoe]

I'm a retired union electrician who worked my whole career (42 years) in New York City and I've never heard that! And believe me, there are plenty of rats in that city, some as big as cats!
So, tell your wife not to worry!

 

[BrawnC]

Thank you all for your feedback. It’s great to get your opinions. Im sure the fish would thank you too

 

[JamieB]

I have surplus’s cats if your wife needs reassurance, I’ll gladly send you a few!

 

[BrawnC]

I have surplus’s cats if your wife needs reassurance, I’ll gladly send you a few!

Unfortunately she isn’t a cat lover either . Actually she’s not an animal person at all

 

[bagsmom]

Even without the rats being attracted by the electrical stuff, you might want to consider running your wires through conduit and burying them in a little trench. It avoids any trouble you could have from exposed wiring and really tidies up the area. In my case, the job wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did it!

 

[bagsmom]

One of the reasons I'm very glad we did this is that we've had squirrels chew on the wires of our Christmas lights. Darn rodents just like to chew.

 

[IPA]

They also make electrical wire specifically to be buried w/o conduit. Use conduit to get it to depth and back up but not for the run. I did it this way because I was concerned about water getting in the conduit. I did run pvc alongside it with air tubing so I could use a simple and inexpensive air pump opposed to something rated for outdoor use.

 

[poconojoe]

I built a little wooden "house" to protect my air pump from the weather. It probably took me a half an hour to build out of scrap wood I had laying around. The little "house" sits right by the pond.
When running your electric, conduit is the best choice. It allows you to pull whatever wire you'll need, including future needs, as long as it's large enough. If PVC conduit is allowed where you live, it's easy to work with and quite inexpensive. You pull in individual wires of the size and amount you need. Most of us would need 3/4" conduit at minimum. Don't bother with 1/2"...it's just too small and the cost difference is so little.

 

[GBBUDD]

I do know that back in the early 80s they did use a insulation around fiberoptic lines. And the rats would chew there way through that. if your using an old electrical cord if may be possible.