Bird poop is believed to be responsible for the major power cut to Northland this week.
Transpower teams made the discovery while inspecting electrical towers north of Auckland, and it's left those affected lost for words.
"I think that's totally ridiculous," one amused resident told Newshub.
On Wednesday morning 92,000 homes and businesses were left without power thanks to the fresh droppings of a water bird, who had been perching on a transmission tower.
"It sounds unusual, but as some of the larger birds take off, in the morning, and it's normally in the morning, they tend to empty their bowels," said Mark Ryall of Transpower.
"The excrement can form a path across the insulator, so the electricity can jump from the wire to the tower which causes a flashover."
Transpower has narrowed the outage to ten towers in Kaiwaka.
While it may all seem a bit far fetched to those affected, Transpower says it's actually fairly common.
"We are always, in a battle, I guess, with birds," Ryall told Newshub.
The reality of that, however, is far less amusing.
"It makes me wonder how stable our infrastructure is that a bird can take out half the far north," one resident said.
Deterrents are now being installed to put off any future power poopers.
