On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:02:56 +0000, wrote:

After some discussion, we think it may be a protection racket; start
putting peanuts out again, or the hose gets it. I'm not giving in.

They *want* to destroy your house in huge fuel/air explosion, so they
can get at *all* the nuts inside - not the token few you hand out.

Turns out this is quite common, once you know what to Google for. There
are reinforced hoses, but I think I'll make the effort to box them in
anyway - a bit of an eyesore.