NEW ORLEANS - For the second time in three days, thousands of Entergy customers in New Orleans were left without power after an animal caused an electrical short.

WWL-TV reports that approximately 4,000 customers were without power in the Lakeview area around 2 p.m. Friday, according to the Entergy outage map.

The map also indicated that power was restored to nearly all those affected before 3 p.m.

Entergy officials said, "An animal has caused an electrical short and damaged our equipment." A spokesperson confirmed the animal was a squirrel, according to WWL-TV.

The outage area included the lakefront area from Wisner to West End Boulevard, a large section of City Park, and much of the area between Orleans Avenue and Canal Boulevard.

This is the second time this week that an animal has caused a major Entergy outage in the New Orleans area.

Approximately 10,000 customers were without power for several hours Wednesday in the Central Business District, Mid-City, Central City, and Treme.

Wednesday's outage was caused by a small animal, believed to be a bird, that got into the electrical system.