If Samuel L. Jackson has had it with all those mother-bleeping snakes on that mother-bleeping plane, he should steer clear of Wyoming.
Rattlesnakes are so common at the South Big Horn County Airport near Greybull, airport staff have gotten used to them, although they might freak visitors out.
It’s much the same situation at the North Big Horn County Airport near Cowley, county airport manager Paul Thur told Cowboy State Daily.
“It’s nothing new. It’s everywhere, all the time,” Thur said of the situation with the rattlesnakes.
So far, nobody has been bitten. And as a bonus, he credits the rattlesnakes for controlling mice and other vermin.
“We can always use the help (with mice) if we don’t have a barn cat around, which we don’t,” he said.
Storms forced Wyoming radio personality and pilot Glenn Woods to land at the Greybull airport Thursday.
He told Cowboy State Daily that he and a friend who was with him were initially creeped out to see a sign warning of rattlesnakes in the main hangar.
At the same time, “it makes complete sense when you take a look at the surrounding terrain,” which is prime rattlesnake habitat, he said.
Who Got Killed?
The sign states across the top: “Please watch out for rattlesnakes in and around the county hangar.”
And across the bottom: “Two were killed last week in the building,” with “in the building” underlined.
Woods said that made he and his friend initially do a double take, thinking it meant perhaps that two people had been killed by snakes in the building.
Then they realized that two snakes had been killed in the hangar.
Thur said those were the confirmed snake killings that he knew about. There might have been even more rattlers killed in private hangars at the airport.
Watch Out For Snakes In The Boneyard
The Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting is adjacent to the Greybull airport, with numerous grounded vintage aircraft on display.
Thur said that “the boneyard,” as he calls the collection of old planes, provides countless places for rattlesnakes to hang out.
“I tell people to watch out” when they go to admire the old aircraft, he said.
Thur added that while he isn’t afraid of the rattlesnakes, he respects them and exercises caution.
“I always watch where I’m stepping, and I’m careful about reaching around or underneath things,” he said.
Woods said he didn’t venture into the hangar during his stop at the airport. He and his friend tied his airplane down on the open tarmac to protect it from the storm.
But the rattlesnake warning sign still kept him on his toes.
“It actually did make me a bit more cognizant of what was on the ground around me,” he said.
Gobble Those Mice
Woods understands the appreciation for rattlesnakes on patrol for rodents.
Mice and other vermin can be a nightmare for pilots, he said.
“Mice like to go into hangars and make a home. It’s a perfect place for mice to make a home. And when they make a home, they like to have little babies,” he said.
When aircraft are kept in hangars, it’s common practice to cover the air intakes so mice can’t crawl up inside the engine compartment and start chewing on wires.
While having rattlesnakes around might be unnerving, it’s also good to think of them gobbling up mice before the rodents can get to airplanes, he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
