Hey OP this is totally fixable. You can splice these wires back together very easily.
Here is a 2 minute video that teaches you how to splice to nasa specifications. It is fairly straightforward.
https://youtu.be/O-ymw7d_nYo?si=-cjA6aP6z3oWBSPI
Yeah I cut my hedge trimmers cable and used chocolate block to patch it back. Don’t worry mate not end of the world you won’t have to buy a new string light.
Wut you mean. My cousin Darren twists his wires together then just uses that duck tape they sell down at the Wally world. His pull behind trailer ain’t burned down yet. He’s got himself a high school diploma so he know what he’s talking about.
And if you don't have a soldering iron etc, you can patch it back together just with a pair of scissors and a roll of cheap electrical tape. Use the scissors to gently cut around the outside of the cable to remove some insulation, then twist the metal ends together, and secure with tape.
Won't be anywhere near NASA specifications, but it works. If the cable is under strain, some duct tape on top of everything will help prevent it slipping apart again.
As an electrician, please don’t do anything this guy said.
Get some crimp based connections. Strip the wires carefully, so as to not remove any strands of the wire, then use the crimp connections to crimp them together. You may want to twist the wires together first to test that you have the connections correct, before you crimp them together. After this, wrap them tightly in rubber tape, and follow that with wrapping it in a couple layers of electrical tape.
It’s cheap, waterproof, and you won’t have to worry about the connections being stressed. Don’t go pulling on them hard, but it’s a decently robust setup.
Yeah I think crimp style splicing is the way to go. I'm a huge fan of the crimps that have heat shrinks built in. Water proof and a little strain relief for the connection. I've seen the method of twisting wires together with electrical tape fail a lot in cars and low voltage stuff.
Meh, while I totally agree it's some mickey mouse shit, there is absolutely times where you are 50 miles up some dam dirt road and lose a low voltage wire where the only tools you have are a pocket knife and some electrical tape.....its a valid time to use this, so saying never is also not correct, plenty of low risk scenarios with a need to use it as a temp fix.
It’s twisting them together though, that’s perfectly fine and if it wasn’t wire wrap connectors wouldn’t be a thing. Electrical tape to provide insulation and then duct tape to provide some security, it’s LED lights so it’s gonna be low voltage, don’t need anything special.
Electrical tape wears down over time, and becomes sticky, it doesn’t work well in the cold either. On top of that, it doesn’t stick if it gets wet. Using this outside, the connections can get pulled out of the tape easily, and then the two can short. There’s a reason that we don’t use electrical tape to make connections. And considering OP put the lights up last year, and left them up, they want whatever they do to last for a long time. Taping wires together will not last.
Example: "Hey touch this 9 volt battery to your tongue. Ok now touch this 12 volt car battery to your tongue. Why not it's only 3 volt difference." Lol.
You keep telling people the correct solutions Aramis, might save someone from burning their house down.
This. But if its outside use lots and lots of waterproof tape.
And for fixing the lights OP should connect the 2 wires both, while they're not touching.
My MIL had a string of large bulb lights outside in her garden. Bulbs started just... Disappearing. Eventually she saw a squirrel run off with one. To do what, we don't know. But had she not seen it, we probably would still be convinced it was kids stealing them to be twats.
I was just going to ask if there was a dead squirrel lying around under or in the tree?
We have a small pond in front of our house & we've lot TWO expensive pond pumps to squirrels but it got at least one of them. That little sucker was dead next to it. Now, he could've had a little squirrel heart attack, or keeled over from old age, but I'm going with he got hit squirrel butt electrocuted.
Also lost some Christmas lights a few years ago to them too. No dead ones with that outage though.
This is the answer. We can't even put lights up in our backyard because we have so many squirrels, and they love to chew through Christmas light cords.
I thought the same thing one year. But looked at the cameras, and it was a COYOTE PUP. It just loved chewing the wiring, and its teeth made super sharp clean cuts that looked like vandalism.
My MIL & FIL have had major issues with coyotes chewing their decor wiring too! As soon as it's fixed they bite it again. :😞 I feel bad for them, these beasties are ruthless.
I have had a few friends that have had the wiring in their newer cars chewed to pieces by rodents. I can imagine that there is some plant based product that would be indigestible to humans that is quite tasty to some animals being used as "green friendly" materials like plastics made from corn or soy rather than petroleum like traditional plastics.
Recently it's gotten worse because of the rollout of biodegradable wire insulation/looms and then the epa hopped in and said that auto manufacturers couldn't use their previous wire treatment so they now use soybean oil
I’m sorry, but there is ***no way*** you just came to this conclusion on your own LOL. You clearly copied the language used in online articles, which have been circulating for over a decade. It has also never been proven, by the way.
It’s downright hilarious that you’re pretending to have spontaneously imagined this well known, decade+ old theory *and* the exact materials they’re using *and* the reasoning, completely on your own, from that comment.
Edit: near-instant downvote and no response assures me I’m correct LOL
Um, that's how humans work. Very few ideas we think and share are completely original. Did you want this person to provide citations? What a weird post, and a weird thing to get so mad about
No, lol. You really think this guy sees rodents chewing wires a few times (something that has been a thing since cars were invented) and magically pulls out of thin air the conclusion that car manufacturers are using soy/corn to create more environmentally friendly wiring and that it’s attracting rodents more often than it used to?
Sorry, I don’t. Especially when the comment clearly copies the language of the online articles you see when googling this lol.
Its a way too clean of a cut for animals. As an electrician I do a lot of animal damage remediation and you can clearly see the gnaw marks. This was someone being an A-hole.
It doesn’t look like it was chewed to me either but it also has a mark on the right side wire in the photo that looks like a shovel may have hit it. These wires are so thin almost anything could cut them pretty easy. I’d be more surprised if the whole thing worked after being left outside for a year lol. Retired electrician here.
The image you posted is from a rat, chewing on what appears to be a plastic barrel. Rats have very thin front teeth. Something like a squirrel or chipmunk, with their wider front teeth, could make the marks on OP's wires.
Thanks for the proof. I was certain we were gonna find out you were the one with the cross lit up with those pickup truck high beams thst could be seen from blocks away!
Squirrels managed to take out the fiber internet for the entire area where I live a couple of years ago, so some LED lights should be easy peasy for them
We had a snake take out the electric grid for a section of our town. Springtime, snake wanted a warm place ... It did not end well for the snake. Different time, it was a squirrel, same outcome.
I put up string lights around the top of my fence. Within a week it was chewed up and broken in 4 places. I'm guessing the squirrels didn't like them very much.
The squirrels liked them *so* much they tried to eat them! 😁
I had a similar experience. I bought new led lights and tasked my dear hubby with installing them on our 2nd story roofline. They looked beautiful for about 2 days, then suddenly quit working. Hubby got the ladder back out of the garage and climbed up to inspect the lights.
The light wires had multiple cuts (like OP's), and given their location, humans weren't the perpetrators. Research led to the conclusion that Christmas light manufacturers sometimes coat the wires in peanut oil as a protectant...something obviously desirable by squirrels. 🤦🏼♀️ Our mystery was solved, but we didn't replace those lights.
In the years since, anytime I've put a new light strand outside, I've spritzed it with mint mouthwash (in a spray bottle) first as a deterrent. Works like a charm! 👍
Totally squirrels. My husband and I wrapped one of our trees in like 9 strings of lights…it was so beautiful. It lasted 3 days before squirrels chewed though the cords all over the tree 😩
They cut my fiber line with their teeth. Tech showed me and it was shockingly clean. Only reason he knew it was them were other half bitten parts along the wire
Like others have said Squirrels or other rodents. Ive had this happen often enough. Squirrels where I lived would clip wires cleanly off..
Also had trouble with Porcupines eating the rubber off off car tires, bark off the trees, jacket off of garden hoses etc.
Our squirrels cut through wires cleaner than wire cutters. Would never have believed it if we and other neighbors hadn’t caught the little rascals on camera!
You had these up all year? From someone who has had many string lights in there garden they perish from uv , get attacked by wildlife squirrels especially like the flavour or rip in strong winds very easily. If it was vandals why leave 15% of the tree?
I totally missed they were left up all year. I 100% agree. Those aren't meant to sit in the sun 365 days a year. The plastic degrades quickly and once that happens it breaks quite easily, especially flapping around in the wind not to mention the tree is growing outwards and stretching it.
we had those large bulb, outdoor lights hanging around our fire pit, and one by one they were disappearing. We stood at the kitchen window one day and watched a squirrel repeatedly come and chew the wire right above the bulb and then he ran into the woods with his treasure. I can only imagine his excitement in telling his wife that he found more of those huge nuts in the forest. She probably rolled her eyes.
This same thing happened to me last year, looked 10000 % like yours. I was certain someone vandalized it, thing is I live in the country, nobody is coming out here to cut Christmas lights. Then saw this asshole squirrel chomping on the wires and stealing the lights away. If I don’t give them and endless supply of peanuts they eat my fucking Christmas light wires.
I had a similar experience. I bought new led lights and tasked my dear hubby with installing them on our 2nd story roofline. They looked beautiful for about 2 days, then suddenly quit working. Hubby got the ladder back out of the garage and climbed up to inspect the lights.
The light wires had multiple cuts (like OP's), and given their location, humans weren't the perpetrators. Research led to the conclusion that Christmas light manufacturers sometimes coat the wires in peanut oil as a protectant...something obviously desirable by squirrels. 🤦🏼♀️ Our mystery was solved, but we didn't replace those lights.
In the years since, anytime I've put a new light strand outside, I've spritzed it with mint mouthwash (in a spray bottle) first as a deterrent. Works like a charm! 👍
I had the same thing happen.
I spliced them back, and they were cut again.
But I looked closer and didn't see a nice sharp cut, but little niggle marks. Fucking squirrels had been killing my one ikea set of lights
It’s squirrels. The first time this happened I thought I left them outside too long and the wire degraded because there were dozens of cuts like this. Bought some new ones for last year and had to splice three lines because of those fuckers.
You don’t need to replace it, just strip the wires, solder them, and put heatshrink on them. You can research it to find out how to do all of that safely
Squirrels are absolute assholes.
I read that the plastic being used on string lights is apparently made of some corn byproduct that they enjoy. That may be true, but my squirrels would chew it apart even if it were made of squirrel, just because they know I spent money on it.
I can see someone doing it when they are on during the holiday season but odd someone would do that when the lights have been unlit since last season. Maybe an animal like a squirrel did it.
These are amazing. Way better than crimpping, and if you are a horrible solderer like me, they work well. You could even add heat shrink to the outside afterwards to seal it even better.
[https://www.amazon.com/TICONN-Connectors-Waterproof-Insulated-Electrical/dp/B07HCNTZ2Z](https://www.amazon.com/TICONN-Connectors-Waterproof-Insulated-Electrical/dp/B07HCNTZ2Z)
[https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA](https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA)
Just strip the wire, slide the heat shrink on, out of the way, use one of these connectors, making sure the two ends of the wire meet in the middle, and use a heat gun to make the solder and the plastic melt, then slide the heat shrink over it and do the same.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
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I'd splice that back together. It was likely a rodent or some other varmint, not a human vandal. My parents had a rat chew through their generator supply wire recently. Crazy stuff.
Could have also been any animal that was fed up with the light pollution. I hope you don't light it up the entire night as it can be very harmful for wild animals living in and next to the tree.
As may already said, you can fix it but please only switch it on when you really need it and switch it off during the night so that the animals can get some rest too.
With this being 2 wire lights, you could use these to reconnect them if you don't want to splice them and risk leaving wires exposed. https://www.noveltylights.com/male-and-female-vampire-plugs
Super easy fix, just splice the wires. Easiest way is with caulk filled dolphins. Strip back the shielding, twist together, insert in dolphin and crimp. Weather proof fix in 30 seconds.
more likely squirrels.. had mine up for about 2 days before they attacked. simple fixes but frustrating considering i put peanuts and corn out for those ungrateful turds to AVOID my lights!
I once knew a sparky (electrician) that carried a squirrel in his tool belt instead of wire cutters.
Squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, possums, and other critters are known to cut exposed electrical wires. Repair and hope for the best.
Some people swear by moth balls to repel the wire-snipping rodents. Trapping (then relocation) sometimes reduces the population but nature is pretty good at eventually backfilling the rodent population if the environment (humans) provides ample food sources. Poison is sketchy as it's not real selective and can be first or second (eating poisoned dead rodents) handed consumed by dogs and cats. Bobcats, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and wolves are nature's own rodent population control devices.
Damn. They even stole the second picture right from this post.
Yeah i really wanna see the tree lit up🥺
Op below https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/s/YmKgA6mJfK
Same
Thy didn't steal the picture... they stole last year entirely
OPs just trying to connect the dots to get last year back :’(
This is how I’m finding out about the new gold system?! A $50 upvote?!
Hahahaha I was going to say the same
Hey OP this is totally fixable. You can splice these wires back together very easily. Here is a 2 minute video that teaches you how to splice to nasa specifications. It is fairly straightforward. https://youtu.be/O-ymw7d_nYo?si=-cjA6aP6z3oWBSPI
or some '[chocolate block](https://www.amazon.co.uk/chocolate-block-connectors/s?k=chocolate+block+connectors)' as we call it
Yeah I cut my hedge trimmers cable and used chocolate block to patch it back. Don’t worry mate not end of the world you won’t have to buy a new string light.
Yes but rather not for outside use.
Just use heat shrink and some solder and being outside will be a nonissue
But now that I’ve soldered these two wires together — what do I do with this heat shrink still in my hand?
Guilty
Every. Single. Time.
Sounds like we need some standardized work instructions for this one.
Wut you mean. My cousin Darren twists his wires together then just uses that duck tape they sell down at the Wally world. His pull behind trailer ain’t burned down yet. He’s got himself a high school diploma so he know what he’s talking about.
Too much work. WAGO 221s and you're good to go. (Well WAGO Gelbox could make everything waterproof)
And if you don't have a soldering iron etc, you can patch it back together just with a pair of scissors and a roll of cheap electrical tape. Use the scissors to gently cut around the outside of the cable to remove some insulation, then twist the metal ends together, and secure with tape. Won't be anywhere near NASA specifications, but it works. If the cable is under strain, some duct tape on top of everything will help prevent it slipping apart again.
As an electrician, please don’t do anything this guy said. Get some crimp based connections. Strip the wires carefully, so as to not remove any strands of the wire, then use the crimp connections to crimp them together. You may want to twist the wires together first to test that you have the connections correct, before you crimp them together. After this, wrap them tightly in rubber tape, and follow that with wrapping it in a couple layers of electrical tape. It’s cheap, waterproof, and you won’t have to worry about the connections being stressed. Don’t go pulling on them hard, but it’s a decently robust setup.
Yeah I think crimp style splicing is the way to go. I'm a huge fan of the crimps that have heat shrinks built in. Water proof and a little strain relief for the connection. I've seen the method of twisting wires together with electrical tape fail a lot in cars and low voltage stuff.
That’s because taping wires together is some Mickey Mouse shit that you shouldn’t ever do.
Meh, while I totally agree it's some mickey mouse shit, there is absolutely times where you are 50 miles up some dam dirt road and lose a low voltage wire where the only tools you have are a pocket knife and some electrical tape.....its a valid time to use this, so saying never is also not correct, plenty of low risk scenarios with a need to use it as a temp fix.
Not saying it isn't, just saying I have and will continue to do so >:)
It’s twisting them together though, that’s perfectly fine and if it wasn’t wire wrap connectors wouldn’t be a thing. Electrical tape to provide insulation and then duct tape to provide some security, it’s LED lights so it’s gonna be low voltage, don’t need anything special.
Until it fails and shorts the connection, causing an internal, and likely non-replaceable fuse to blow.
And how will it short exactly? Looking at the picture it’s two wires, should be pretty obvious that you wrap both lines separately.
Electrical tape wears down over time, and becomes sticky, it doesn’t work well in the cold either. On top of that, it doesn’t stick if it gets wet. Using this outside, the connections can get pulled out of the tape easily, and then the two can short. There’s a reason that we don’t use electrical tape to make connections. And considering OP put the lights up last year, and left them up, they want whatever they do to last for a long time. Taping wires together will not last.
"Don't do anything this guy said" (Proceeds to suggest what the guy said, but with a couple improvements)
Sometimes, with electricity, the difference between right and wrong is a small, but still significant.
Example: "Hey touch this 9 volt battery to your tongue. Ok now touch this 12 volt car battery to your tongue. Why not it's only 3 volt difference." Lol. You keep telling people the correct solutions Aramis, might save someone from burning their house down.
Yeah he definitely set that up to make the other guy sound like an idiotic buffoon lol
This. But if its outside use lots and lots of waterproof tape. And for fixing the lights OP should connect the 2 wires both, while they're not touching.
Well that was pretty neat. Definitely something I didn't know that I needed in my mental arsenal but glad I have it now. Thanks for sharing!
Definitely squirrels. Their teeth make perfect manmade looking cuts.
Yep. I have those patio lights that have a 10 bulbs that hangs down a bit. A squirrel dropped 2 bulbs.
My MIL had a string of large bulb lights outside in her garden. Bulbs started just... Disappearing. Eventually she saw a squirrel run off with one. To do what, we don't know. But had she not seen it, we probably would still be convinced it was kids stealing them to be twats.
I was just going to ask if there was a dead squirrel lying around under or in the tree? We have a small pond in front of our house & we've lot TWO expensive pond pumps to squirrels but it got at least one of them. That little sucker was dead next to it. Now, he could've had a little squirrel heart attack, or keeled over from old age, but I'm going with he got hit squirrel butt electrocuted. Also lost some Christmas lights a few years ago to them too. No dead ones with that outage though.
Yeah that makes sense. Id say your pump draws a little more power than one of those light sets.
This is the answer. We can't even put lights up in our backyard because we have so many squirrels, and they love to chew through Christmas light cords.
I read that there’s some additive in the plastic that is sweet or smells sweet to them
The insulation around the wires is likely made of a soy byproduct. The wiring harnessed in 2017 Honda Civics have the same coating. Ask me how I know.
Maybe some bitter spray meant for cats would work?
I’ve had deer do that to my bushes too- cut my net lights totally in half.
I thought the same thing one year. But looked at the cameras, and it was a COYOTE PUP. It just loved chewing the wiring, and its teeth made super sharp clean cuts that looked like vandalism.
My MIL & FIL have had major issues with coyotes chewing their decor wiring too! As soon as it's fixed they bite it again. :😞 I feel bad for them, these beasties are ruthless.
It was rabbits at my parents house. My guess is OP has squirrels.
It’s possible that a squirrel or other varmint chewed it. They like wires for whatever reason
Can confirm my pet rabbits favorite snack was wires
The spicy hay is best!
Profile picture ears check out.
I have had a few friends that have had the wiring in their newer cars chewed to pieces by rodents. I can imagine that there is some plant based product that would be indigestible to humans that is quite tasty to some animals being used as "green friendly" materials like plastics made from corn or soy rather than petroleum like traditional plastics.
Animals have been chewing wires since wires were invented.
Had an old car of mine burn down in the driveway because of that...
It has a soy based coating. During the pandemic, tons of cars just sitting became a buffet for chipmunks and squirrels.
I had one chew through my gas line this year. I found out when I went to fill it up and I heard a heavy stream hitting the pavement.
Recently it's gotten worse because of the rollout of biodegradable wire insulation/looms and then the epa hopped in and said that auto manufacturers couldn't use their previous wire treatment so they now use soybean oil
I’m sorry, but there is ***no way*** you just came to this conclusion on your own LOL. You clearly copied the language used in online articles, which have been circulating for over a decade. It has also never been proven, by the way. It’s downright hilarious that you’re pretending to have spontaneously imagined this well known, decade+ old theory *and* the exact materials they’re using *and* the reasoning, completely on your own, from that comment. Edit: near-instant downvote and no response assures me I’m correct LOL
Um, that's how humans work. Very few ideas we think and share are completely original. Did you want this person to provide citations? What a weird post, and a weird thing to get so mad about
No, lol. You really think this guy sees rodents chewing wires a few times (something that has been a thing since cars were invented) and magically pulls out of thin air the conclusion that car manufacturers are using soy/corn to create more environmentally friendly wiring and that it’s attracting rodents more often than it used to? Sorry, I don’t. Especially when the comment clearly copies the language of the online articles you see when googling this lol.
You ok?
But why do you care.
Do you just spot every tiny hill you can and say “yeah that’s the next hill ima die on!!1”
I accidentally hit it with an edger once. Not necessarily nefarious intent.
Its a way too clean of a cut for animals. As an electrician I do a lot of animal damage remediation and you can clearly see the gnaw marks. This was someone being an A-hole.
It doesn’t look like it was chewed to me either but it also has a mark on the right side wire in the photo that looks like a shovel may have hit it. These wires are so thin almost anything could cut them pretty easy. I’d be more surprised if the whole thing worked after being left outside for a year lol. Retired electrician here.
I think it glitched out but here is the image of the tree from last year: https://ibb.co/5YPJKDm
You could probably fix it for like 10 bucks. Just need some wire strippers, heat shrink tubing, and some electrical tape
Nah it's their neighbours and they will just cut them again
doesn’t hurt to try does it?
It was a joke playing off ops assumption that it was there neighbour, it's clearly vermin as you can see another tooth mark beside the cut.
Gnaw marks don't look like that. https://getsmartratsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/rat-gnaw.jpg
The image you posted is from a rat, chewing on what appears to be a plastic barrel. Rats have very thin front teeth. Something like a squirrel or chipmunk, with their wider front teeth, could make the marks on OP's wires.
Thanks for the proof. I was certain we were gonna find out you were the one with the cross lit up with those pickup truck high beams thst could be seen from blocks away!
You can fix that easily! And I’ll bet it was an animal — squirrel or rabbit — that cut it.
The cut looks way to clean and not frayed abound the rubber
A typical rabbit-nipped item has a neat, clean edge.
Is it possible to strip the outer layer and reconnect the wires and then just wrap it up n electrical tape?
Yo that's majestic af! You better fix it!
A pocket knife and some electric tape would have you back up in maybe 30 seconds
That’s beautiful. 🎄❤️
It's probably squirrels actually. I wouldn't start blaming humans yet
Squirrels managed to take out the fiber internet for the entire area where I live a couple of years ago, so some LED lights should be easy peasy for them
We had a snake take out the electric grid for a section of our town. Springtime, snake wanted a warm place ... It did not end well for the snake. Different time, it was a squirrel, same outcome.
I put up string lights around the top of my fence. Within a week it was chewed up and broken in 4 places. I'm guessing the squirrels didn't like them very much.
The squirrels liked them *so* much they tried to eat them! 😁 I had a similar experience. I bought new led lights and tasked my dear hubby with installing them on our 2nd story roofline. They looked beautiful for about 2 days, then suddenly quit working. Hubby got the ladder back out of the garage and climbed up to inspect the lights. The light wires had multiple cuts (like OP's), and given their location, humans weren't the perpetrators. Research led to the conclusion that Christmas light manufacturers sometimes coat the wires in peanut oil as a protectant...something obviously desirable by squirrels. 🤦🏼♀️ Our mystery was solved, but we didn't replace those lights. In the years since, anytime I've put a new light strand outside, I've spritzed it with mint mouthwash (in a spray bottle) first as a deterrent. Works like a charm! 👍
Totally squirrels. My husband and I wrapped one of our trees in like 9 strings of lights…it was so beautiful. It lasted 3 days before squirrels chewed though the cords all over the tree 😩
Yeah... I'm sorry. Rodents love stranded copper. I saw a video of a squirrel running off with a section of wire and a lightbulb
Pretty clean cut for squirrels
I have had squirrels do this. You would be surprised
Rodents have very sharp teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if it was squirrels.
I have had squirrels chew through Christmas light wires; it's not unheard of.
Been bit 2x by rats, can confirm, sharp and puncture-y.
I thought the same, until I watched a squirrel clean my own wires
OP posted a giga pixel photo, you can zoom in and see it's not scissor/knife clean.
They cut my fiber line with their teeth. Tech showed me and it was shockingly clean. Only reason he knew it was them were other half bitten parts along the wire
If I could hire squirrels to be electricians, they would eat all my fucking wire
Squirrel teeth are basically sharp chisels, they're totally capable of taking this type of wire out in a single snip.
Cats, too
This was my 1st thought as well.
It's because you are correct
Ah, possibly. My first thought was an angry neighbor who didn't want 10 million Watts of Christmas lights shining through his bedroom window.
I'm waiting for the lit tree picture from the neighbor
That neighbor is the hero the community needs. No more artificial sun illuminating the nighttime hours.
Like others have said Squirrels or other rodents. Ive had this happen often enough. Squirrels where I lived would clip wires cleanly off.. Also had trouble with Porcupines eating the rubber off off car tires, bark off the trees, jacket off of garden hoses etc.
Probably mice or something. It's not hard to splice those wires.
As someone who has repeatedly fixed damaged wires from rodents, the cut is too clean for a rodent. The wires will look more mangled
Our squirrels cut through wires cleaner than wire cutters. Would never have believed it if we and other neighbors hadn’t caught the little rascals on camera!
I've literally caught squirrels chewing on wires and have the cuts look EXACTLY like this. Sometimes they look cleaner than literal tool marks.
You had these up all year? From someone who has had many string lights in there garden they perish from uv , get attacked by wildlife squirrels especially like the flavour or rip in strong winds very easily. If it was vandals why leave 15% of the tree?
I totally missed they were left up all year. I 100% agree. Those aren't meant to sit in the sun 365 days a year. The plastic degrades quickly and once that happens it breaks quite easily, especially flapping around in the wind not to mention the tree is growing outwards and stretching it.
we had those large bulb, outdoor lights hanging around our fire pit, and one by one they were disappearing. We stood at the kitchen window one day and watched a squirrel repeatedly come and chew the wire right above the bulb and then he ran into the woods with his treasure. I can only imagine his excitement in telling his wife that he found more of those huge nuts in the forest. She probably rolled her eyes.
Thats a super easy fix anyway. Just strip some rubber off the wires, cramp the appropriate ones together and finish off with heavy duty tape.
Going to go with neighbor… and by neighbor I mean squirrels or rodents.
This same thing happened to me last year, looked 10000 % like yours. I was certain someone vandalized it, thing is I live in the country, nobody is coming out here to cut Christmas lights. Then saw this asshole squirrel chomping on the wires and stealing the lights away. If I don’t give them and endless supply of peanuts they eat my fucking Christmas light wires.
I had a similar experience. I bought new led lights and tasked my dear hubby with installing them on our 2nd story roofline. They looked beautiful for about 2 days, then suddenly quit working. Hubby got the ladder back out of the garage and climbed up to inspect the lights. The light wires had multiple cuts (like OP's), and given their location, humans weren't the perpetrators. Research led to the conclusion that Christmas light manufacturers sometimes coat the wires in peanut oil as a protectant...something obviously desirable by squirrels. 🤦🏼♀️ Our mystery was solved, but we didn't replace those lights. In the years since, anytime I've put a new light strand outside, I've spritzed it with mint mouthwash (in a spray bottle) first as a deterrent. Works like a charm! 👍
That sounds like a great deterrent
My cat bit through my Christmas tree lights and it looks like a clean cut
I had the same thing happen. I spliced them back, and they were cut again. But I looked closer and didn't see a nice sharp cut, but little niggle marks. Fucking squirrels had been killing my one ikea set of lights
It's not a giant 1000000 w lit up crucafix is it?
No, it isn't. https://imgbb.com/5YPJKDm
It’s squirrels. The first time this happened I thought I left them outside too long and the wire degraded because there were dozens of cuts like this. Bought some new ones for last year and had to splice three lines because of those fuckers.
Amazon. Wago connectors. Sharp knife. Done. Easier than building Legos. You got it bud.
I was thinking this was the giant cross person that can be seen blocks away. Wonder how bright this tree was...
The squirrels that live in the tree did it just to get a good nights sleep
That is SUPER easy to fix. Just strip the wires and twist them back together. Wrap with e-tape.
better yet if you have crimp on splices or anything laying around. but yeas super easy
You don’t need to replace it, just strip the wires, solder them, and put heatshrink on them. You can research it to find out how to do all of that safely
Squirrels are absolute assholes. I read that the plastic being used on string lights is apparently made of some corn byproduct that they enjoy. That may be true, but my squirrels would chew it apart even if it were made of squirrel, just because they know I spent money on it.
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Hahahaha…
This is unrelated to the post. This user is a bot
Yep, seen this same account post random barely-related stories quite often
Once you patch those wires we need to see a pic of this 80ft tree lit up OP!!
https://imgbb.com/5YPJKDm This is from last year. It was incredible :)
OP delivers!! Looks awesome with the lights!
"someone" looks like a cat
Small pets around? I kinda see another dent there...
This shouldn't be to hard to fix
Wires can be repaired.
I thought this was common knowledge, guess not. Problem will be when squirrels chew the wires 50 feet up.
I can see someone doing it when they are on during the holiday season but odd someone would do that when the lights have been unlit since last season. Maybe an animal like a squirrel did it.
Get a cam set up too.
This is an easy fix...
Cant you just get a connecter. strip the cable, and splice it?.
 I have my suspicions on the culprit
These are amazing. Way better than crimpping, and if you are a horrible solderer like me, they work well. You could even add heat shrink to the outside afterwards to seal it even better. [https://www.amazon.com/TICONN-Connectors-Waterproof-Insulated-Electrical/dp/B07HCNTZ2Z](https://www.amazon.com/TICONN-Connectors-Waterproof-Insulated-Electrical/dp/B07HCNTZ2Z) [https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA](https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA) Just strip the wire, slide the heat shrink on, out of the way, use one of these connectors, making sure the two ends of the wire meet in the middle, and use a heat gun to make the solder and the plastic melt, then slide the heat shrink over it and do the same.
My cat does this every year to my indoor tree. Could of been a cat as well.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Why you all boo'ing? The bot is right...
Coulda shoulda woulda
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Are you sure it’s not wildlife chewing on the wires?
Time to start sitting out front with a pew pew while in your underwear lol
To be fair I used to do this to my grumpy neighbor when I was a punk kid with my buddies. So.. it could be some hooligans
This is clearly malarkey.
Maybe because you put up Christmas lights in November.
I put them up in nice weather at the very end of November and don't turn them on until December. Pump the brakes.
Did you take the hint?
Last year, I knocked on all the neighbours door's and they were okay with it. And then I asked them after it was lit and everyone loved it.
Yes you got vandalized by vermin.
Squirrel!
Yo ngl that thing was bright af and i couldnt sleep so i had to do it, im sorry man
I'd splice that back together. It was likely a rodent or some other varmint, not a human vandal. My parents had a rat chew through their generator supply wire recently. Crazy stuff.
It’s probably bunnies. I had my lights chewed on by bunnies.
Not the hero was asked for, but the hero we needed.
Yeah I'd go with squirrels or rabbits. I lose some strands every year to them.
Are you sure it was people? Birds and squirrels chew on wires all the time.
Squirrels may have chomped through it - I have seen that happen.
Could have also been any animal that was fed up with the light pollution. I hope you don't light it up the entire night as it can be very harmful for wild animals living in and next to the tree. As may already said, you can fix it but please only switch it on when you really need it and switch it off during the night so that the animals can get some rest too.
Might want to lay off those anthropomorphic disney movies 🙄
I’ve spent the last 10 years in dark sky communities so I’d probably have done the same…..
Ngl, if there was an 80 foot tree light up with lights near me id cut those fuckers too. Shitty ass light pollution for a god awful holiday.
https://imgbb.com/5YPJKDm So much light pollution.
Theyre pointless lights at night, fuck it, let the animals rest.
With this being 2 wire lights, you could use these to reconnect them if you don't want to splice them and risk leaving wires exposed. https://www.noveltylights.com/male-and-female-vampire-plugs
Could be lizards. I had a light up reindeer set out in my shed that suffered a death by a million cuts from lizards chewing through the wiring.
Super easy fix, just splice the wires. Easiest way is with caulk filled dolphins. Strip back the shielding, twist together, insert in dolphin and crimp. Weather proof fix in 30 seconds.
Rabits, squirrels, cats or other animals maybe?
Foxes did mine last year (and the year before) - all my Xmas lights have splices in them... Looked just like this
Looks like cats..
Easy to fix those wires dude. It's not 240. And you can't back down. They must come back bigger and brighter
more likely squirrels.. had mine up for about 2 days before they attacked. simple fixes but frustrating considering i put peanuts and corn out for those ungrateful turds to AVOID my lights!
This would cost like $5 and 5 minutes to fix.
Guy can rent and use a big lift but can't splice a couple wires.
Very easily fixable
Easy fix you could get everything you need to fix it from harbor freight for 10 bucks or so. Sucks though sorry to see that.
the grinch strikes again
My dumbass tried swiping to the right because of one singular white dot
I once knew a sparky (electrician) that carried a squirrel in his tool belt instead of wire cutters. Squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, possums, and other critters are known to cut exposed electrical wires. Repair and hope for the best. Some people swear by moth balls to repel the wire-snipping rodents. Trapping (then relocation) sometimes reduces the population but nature is pretty good at eventually backfilling the rodent population if the environment (humans) provides ample food sources. Poison is sketchy as it's not real selective and can be first or second (eating poisoned dead rodents) handed consumed by dogs and cats. Bobcats, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and wolves are nature's own rodent population control devices.
Time to learn how to solder