The squirrel who knocked out power to 1,700 Entergy meters in Vicksburg last Tuesday morning — and lost his life at the Iowa Avenue substation in the process — has generated many quips.

They have ranged from questioning whether he was Taliban to whether he was intruding on the exclusive territory of raccoons, members of a somewhat decimated family whose ramblings short-circuited the substation near Porters Chapel Academy and darkened more than 2,800 homes a couple of times last winter.

Entergy, at least officially, fails to see the humor in any of it. Can’t charge for electricity not being delivered, you know. Too, word is the company has invested heavily on “excluder devices” to keep beasts of all sizes, including birds, from causing such incidents.

Those with inventive minds should look at this as a challenge: Come up with something, anything, to keep animals from shutting down the grid, then if not the world, at least grateful utility companies will beat a path to your door.

Here’s a hint, though: If designing on a computer, save your work often and back it up. You can never tell wh ….