decibel:

 

Back in the "old days",  multi-pair copper cables were wrapped in cotton, impregnated with arsenic, to keep rats away.

 

Bitrix was/is used to stop kids drinking things they shouldn't.

 

Is there no  equivalent that can deter rats chewing on these fibre cables?   Must be some money to be made by an inventor here.

 

 

 

The cable from the old days was very unhealthy to work with. I've done my fair share of lead shielded, tar tape wrapped, armoured cable splicing and it's not great. Rodents will chew through anything their teeth will sink into, there's not much you can do to deter it. If you put something on the cable to kill them, you end up splicing fibres/jointing pairs with dead rats stinking the place up.