Skip to content
News & Coverage
Community

The Wyandotte Squirrel Suits Up

Wyandotte Municipal Services’ mascot, out and about in an AO Safe hi-vis vest.

A squirrel mascot in a blue Wyandotte Municipal Services shirt and a yellow hi-vis vest, waving in an office decorated for autumn
WMS shirt, AO Safe vest.
The same mascot from behind, showing the Alpha Omega Safety Solutions logo across the back of the hi-vis vest
From the back, the vest does the talking.
Out in the community, vest on. Seven seconds, no sound.

Hi-vis is not optional, not even for the mascot. This is the Wyandotte Municipal Services squirrel, in a WMS shirt and an Alpha Omega Safety Solutions vest, front and back: first at the office, then out at a community event as the light was going.

Why a squirrel is funny to a lineworker

Look at the wall behind the mascot: a WANTED poster with a squirrel on it. Anyone in public power gets the joke. Squirrels are among the most frequent causes of power outages in the country.

It happens the same way every time. A squirrel on a transformer or in a substation touches an energized part and a grounded one at the same moment, and for an instant it completes the circuit. A fuse blows or a breaker trips, the street goes dark, and it ends badly for the squirrel. It is the reason utilities fit wildlife guards over bushings and terminals.

It is common enough that the American Public Power Association has kept a “Squirrel Index” of squirrel-caused outages since 2015. Its numbers peak in spring and fall, which makes an October squirrel in a safety vest either a reformed character or the best-dressed suspect in Michigan.

What the squirrel gets right

It is a costume, but the habits are the real ones.

  1. 01

    Vest on before stepping out

    High-visibility apparel is how a driver sees you in time to do something about it. For crews in a roadway work zone it is not a preference: federal work-zone rules call for ANSI/ISEA 107 Class 2 or 3.

  2. 02

    Visible from every side

    The reflective striping and the logo run right round the vest, front and back. Traffic rarely arrives from the direction you happen to be facing.

  3. 03

    Dusk is when it counts

    The clip was shot as the light was going. That is when fluorescent colour starts doing less of the work and reflective striping, lit by headlights, takes over.

Thanks to our friends at Wyandotte Municipal Services. The vest suits you.

The serious side of the same partnership: safety and skills training for municipal utility crews.

Municipal utility training