So my house security system had this little RF choke attached at the power feed point for the upstairs smoke detector, up in the attic. The dang-blasted little nut jobs chewed through my eve vent, through some stucco mesh, then across the attic to get to it. The security system started throwing fault codes on the fire alarm, and when I crawled up in the attic to find out what was going on, I startled one of the little so-and-sos CHEWING ON IT. Yeesh. I had to do some major reconstruction work to get the eve vent put back together.
A little google-fu finally showed the problem - the shrink-wrap stuff around the choke has a significant nut oil content! (I think it may have been almonds, not sure now, it's been a few years...) The heat from the coil slowly bakes this stuff off, and it's like crack cocaine for the little bastards. I replaced the choke with a new one with no outer insulation except for the enamel on the wire, no more problem.
I'd bet the insulation on most of the cables that are being munched have some sort of similar scent that is making the chewing machines go crazy. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
