It's defo a fox - got him on my wildlife camera all night, and just got back from Regents laps and he was asleep in a currently empty huge terracotta pot.
It could be a losing battle - there would be so much wire to protect - all in short sections between each bulb.
How rude. FWIW, rats love chewing cables for some reason.
Some flexible metal conduit would be ideal, but looks quite expensive and hard to buy in shorter lengths, so a metal shower hose might be good.