Squirrel cuts off cable service, March Madness to Meadowlakes, Marble Falls’ Pecan Valley area

MARBLE FALLS — A squirrel chewed through a cable, cutting off television, phone and Internet service to more than 500 customers in the Pecan Valley area and neighboring Meadowlakes Friday.

Even worse, sports fans couldn’t watch some of their favorite games during march Madness NCAA basketball coverage, officials said.

Service was down from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., said Stacy Bryant of Northland Communications Inc.

"The squirrel apparently chewed through a fiber optic cable outside of Meadowlakes," she said.

Along with cable television, the squirrel knocked out high-speed Internet and phone services.

The local office of the Seattle-based company, which offers cable service to Marble Falls and the surrounding area, received a lot of phone calls about the issue, Bryant said.

"The (Texas) Longhorns basketball team played that morning, so we heard about it," she said.