Douglas Wulff is a friend to many, but not to squirrels.

When a squirrel ran across above-ground power lines and caused $6,500 in damage to the wooden shingles of his aunt's house, Wulff decided to take action.

So he invented the CRITTER GUARD, a device designed to keep animals such as squirrels off power lines and poles.

Most standard homeowner's insurance in Missouri does not cover damage caused by animals, said Chuck Wilson, an agent for Shelter Insurance in Columbia.

"If a squirrel or mouse gets into your attic and chews stuff up, you are not going to be covered," Wilson said. But, "if that magic squirrel shorts out a line and your house burns down, your insurance would cover it."

Wulff's solution was to stop animals from climbing on the wires that lead to buildings. Wulff said most products currently available focus on covering up equipment.

"We knew that we could offer a product that kept the squirrels off the equipment altogether by preventing access, and that is really what our niche in the market is," said Wulff, a 24-year-old MU graduate with a marketing degree. "Our product prevents access while others cover equipment up."

For a squirrel, crossing the CRITTER GUARD is like walking on barrels in water. The device uses spinning obstacles to force animals to lose their balance. Wulff's line guards were so effective that he created a version to protect the poles also.

Although the original idea for CRITTER GUARD came from a need to keep animals out of his aunt's home, Wulff has found a bigger market for the product in the utility industry. His invention prevents power outages often caused by animals.

"Line guards could keep the squirrels from coming off the line and into the substations, so what companies normally would do is insulate all the different parts off the substation," Wulff said. "We provide a much more cost-effective means to keep them out."

Most animal-related outages are caused when an animal touches two wires in a transformer or line and completes a circuit with its body. While animals such as squirrels only cause about 3 percent to 5 percent of outages locally, they frequently cause blinking lights, says Lee Ardrey, manager of operations at Boone Electric Cooperative.

The lines have circuit breakers that work much like the ones found in most households. The breakers will work three times before locking out on the fourth time if the line is not clear.

"Usually a squirrel will operate a breaker one or two times before it blows him off the transformer or off the line. Then the line clears itself," Ardrey said.

Most squirrels do not survive the ordeal.

The CRITTER GUARD serves as a barrier to keep animals from getting to the electrical equipment that will shock them and create an outage. The guards interfere with animals' balance but do not hurt them. Animals are forced to either give up or fall off the line. The creature-friendly aspect of the CRITTER GUARD is one of its benefits, Wulff said.

The CRITTER GUARD can only be bought through utility companies. The product has allowed Wulff to start his own company.

"Opportunities don't come along that much in a lifetime and you just have to recognize what the biggest opportunities are and take that chance," Wulff said. "I knew, since I was so young, that now would probably be the best time to take my shot at business and owning my own company."

Currently, 35 power companies around the United States are using the CRITTER GUARD . Many of the power companies have bought as many as 1,000 Critter Guards. In Australia, Critter Guards are used to protect power lines from an indigenous species of possum, Wulff said.

In March, Boone Electric bought some of its first line protectors from CRITTER GUARD, Ardrey said. The company put the units primarily on its main line and on lines running to residences where there have been problems with squirrels in the past.

"The ones that we have installed have been real effective and have kept the squirrels completely away from what we want," Ardrey said.

Ardrey also said Boone Electric is still trying out the Critter Guards to see how well they work.

"We are going to put these into an area that we know we have squirrel problems. Then we are going to watch them for a little while," Ardrey said. "But I'm sure if they work as well as the first ones we will probably buy some more of the line guards."

While Wulff believes that his CRITTER GUARD is a good product, he does not think that the company has reached its full potential.

"There is still a lot of work to be done," Wulff said.

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