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And I didn't even know elk could fly:
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/23ky/met-4-elk01230-4800.html
Cox and Randy Hunsucker? I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere.........
Emps
Elk endanger East Kentucky aviators
Airports seek money for fences to keep out 800-pound animals
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press
Wildlife managers began reintroducing elk to Kentucky in 1997; now the herd may exceed 2,000. Although no plane-elk collisions have been reported, airport officials are concerned.
Gary Cox, manager of Big Sandy Regional Airport, said: "I'm 100 percent for the elk. But I'm also 100 percent for having fences that will keep them away from airports."
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — As part of his duties as manager of the Big Sandy Regional Airport, Gary Cox jumps into his pickup and rushes along the runway, horn honking, to scare elk out of the path of incoming planes.
The huge animals that have been reintroduced in the mountain region now outnumber planes around some airports, creating a new danger for air travelers in Eastern Kentucky.
"I'm 100 percent for the elk," Cox said. "But I'm also 100 percent for having fences that will keep them away from airports."
Although no plane-elk collisions have been reported in the region, Cox said the likelihood is too great to be ignored. With the elk population estimated at more than 2,000, airports have begun seeking funding to build fences to keep them off runways.
Mark Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Division of Aeronautics, said the fence-building projects will likely qualify for state and federal financial assistance when formal applications are submitted.
Pilot Randy Hunsucker said burgeoning deer herds that hang around airfields also are a concern for pilots.
"It's very hazardous," said Hunsucker, who is based at the Pikeville-Pike County Airport.
Wildlife managers began reintroducing elk to Kentucky in 1997 in 14 eastern counties. Overhunting had pushed them into extinction in the state more than 150 years ago.
Hunsucker, whose plane has struck two deer on runways in Eastern Kentucky, said he worries that he might one day hit an elk, some of which can weigh 800 pounds.
A collision with a deer at the Pikeville airport in October did about $50,000 worth of damage to his plane.
"If it had been an elk, I don't know that we would have necessarily been injured or killed, but it would have been more damaging than it was," Hunsucker said.
"At night, you just don't know where they're going to be. The elk just stand there and look at you."
Cox said his airport has an electric fence around its 5,000-foot runway, but the elk knock it down and walk across, while deer simply jump over it.
Glenn Brooks, who works at the Pikeville airport, said local officials had proposed building a 10-foot fence around the runway.
He said the small airport can't afford the $1.1million cost without state or federal assistance.
Until a fence can be built, Brooks said he hopes the airport's luck holds out.
"We have a lot of elk," he said. "We've seen groups of as many as 50 elk at this airport."
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/23ky/met-4-elk01230-4800.html
Cox and Randy Hunsucker? I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere.........
Emps