Flying swans, itchy bulls and other animals blamed for 1,500 power outages in a year

In one case in Cork, a farmer was forced to fence off the area around a pole to stop one of his bulls from scratching himself on it.

Swans flying into overhead wires and bulls using electricity poles as scratching posts were among the more unusual causes of power cuts around Ireland.

ESB Networks records reveal more than 1,500 incidents where animals — rather than harsh weather or technical faults — were blamed for knocking out power to homes and businesses.

In one case in Cork, a farmer was forced to fence off the area around a pole to stop one of his bulls from scratching himself on it.

It was one of dozens of cases involving cattle and horses using ESB infrastructure to ease their itch, according to an internal log of incidents from November 2024 to October 2025.

There were also a large number of outages from swans flying into power lines, including one where an unfortunate bird hit wires during fog.

The log listed repeated incidents where birds, including crows and hawks, were found dead after strikes.

Another report from Co Wexford said: “Safe for now — three poles riddled with woodpeckers.” 

In one case, a work crew was called out to deal with a cat who had climbed up an electricity pole, leading to a power fault.

“Cat is down safely,” said an update.

Other animals implicated in power outages included squirrels, mice, rats, as well as one disconnection to remove a bee nest.

In Tipperary, a bull was blamed after a “service was pulled off [a] pole” while in several other cases, electric wire was fitted to keep cattle away from power supplies.

Birds caused “a lot of damage” during one incident in Cratloe in Limerick, according to the log from ESB Networks.

A note of the incident said: “Explore options to deter birds, second outage this year at station due to bird strike … we are going to install some form of bird diverter busbar insulation available — would this help here?” A later note said: “Both bird strikes have been on the actual disconnects themselves, so I’m not sure it would help much.”

Of the more than 1,500 wildlife-related outages, about 1,200 of them were caused by birds or nests.

Nearly 300 incidents involved livestock, while fewer than 20 were blamed on wild animals.