You're not going to believe what may have caused a Metronet outage!

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia)

Winneshiek County and City of Decorah employees are working to repair damage done to fiber optic cables strung overhead on Mill Street in Decorah.

Metronet representatives say the cables were damaged in two locations one block apart on Mill Street south of Broadway.  It's an area where the fiber optic cables are strung overhead.  The cables apparently were chewed on by squirrels in the trees through which the cables passed.

City of Decorah Street Department crews were working Monday to cut down tree branches that came near the fiber optic cables.  Metronet officials say they are also looking into buying PVC coverings for the cables that will be applied where they come close to tree brnaches.

As for what caused the squirrels to chew on the fiber optic cables, Metronet officials say they're not sure it was a contributing factor, but they learned that the cable casing is manufactured using a lubricant--peanut oil.

City crews work to cut down tree branches

Fiber optic cables came too close to tree branches