Backhoe Attenuation – term used to describe the loss of signal (attenuation) of your copper or fibre cable by a backhoe digging your cable out of the ground.

In Service Provider circles, the predator that causes the breakage is often known as a “Long Necked Fibre Eater” to describe one of the few naturally occurring predators for fibre optic cables.

The Long Necked Fibre Eater is particularly nasty predator because it can easily damage several kilometres of cable making a quick fix impossible. A voracious feeder, it can consume hundreds of metres of fibre optic and copper cable in a single feast.

The following image shows the Short Necked Fibre Eater digging for food in a typical urban environment. Note the damage it causes as it forages for food.

And in this very moving photo you can see a “Long Necked Fibre Eater” migrating across an area where they have completely devastated the local ecology by overgrazing.

And this is a very rare shot of a fibre eater in action in an urban environment.