tenplay wrote:

After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Yes.

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?

If the varmint ate the cable somewhere inside the house, I'd figure out
how it got in and seal that hole. If it's outside, there's probably not
much you can do.

Bonnie