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Odd Jobs (Unusual Gigs, Positions & Vocations)

Mighty_Emperor

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
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And I didn't even know elk could fly:

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
 
It's clearly a mistake. It's reindeer, surely?
 
In the US elks are a type of big deer, European elks are the same as US moose.
 
maybe it was going out on a stagnight?

wheres me coat?
 
Didn't they find a deers legs on the roof of Waterloo Station a few years back?
 
Marion said:
Didn't they find a deers legs on the roof of Waterloo Station a few years back?

yep a old dears legs :D

right then! where is my coat please?
 
Melf you are impossible!

Marion, the possibilty of a deers leg on the roof of waterloo station begs so many questions I don't know where to start!

however:

had it been reported missing?

Kath
 
what? my coat or the raindeer legs? :D
 
God, this fits so beautifully here. ;)

Mich. Man Hauls Away Road Kill for Free

May 20, 4:26 PM (ET)

TYRONE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - The Livingston County Road Commission says it can't afford to haul away road kill. So Tim Strong does it for free.

When a deer or other animal comes out on the losing end of a collision with a car or truck, Strong - pickup truck and outdoor freezer at the ready - is the go-to guy for the road commission and local law enforcement agencies.

"Not that this is my dream job or anything," Strong, 35, told The Detroit News for a Friday story. "But it makes me feel good - like I'm doing something to help my kids out. It gives me the satisfaction that I've done something right.

As it happens, sons Max and Dylan were with Strong at the inception of his effort. They were driving to a party store to get candy and pop a year and a half ago when they passed a dead deer at the side of a road.

Strong saw the deer in the same spot weeks later, called the road commission and learned it doesn't remove road kill. Neither do state or local police, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources or even the county Animal Control Department.

"I was in disbelief," he said. "It's such a simple thing. It would really help clean up the road and make it a nicer community for our children."

After disposing of the deer, Strong contacted the state and started a nonprofit company he calls the Michigan Road Kill Commission. Now, anyone calling the road commission, the county's 911 dispatch center or local law enforcement agencies about a carcass is referred to Strong.

Strong buries some of the deer in a nearby field, with the owner's permission. He said another 30 are buried on his own property.

"I've got three to pick up today," he said Thursday. "One lady called at 3 in the morning. I figured that one could wait."

He receives no compensation for his time or gas for his truck. He tried soliciting donations by putting charity boxes in local shops. "But the honor system ain't all that honorable," Strong said.

Some of the more ripened carcasses go into his outdoor freezer. Deer are a bit easier on the nose if they're deep-frozen, he said.

Source
 
Being from eastern KY myself I can say that there is truth in this story. The story itself could all be made up, some of it does sound somewhat fabricated, but the reintroduced elk are causing all sorts of problems here. Whitetail deer are very bothersome here as hunting of them has declined, but now there is the added problem of the elk that are several times larger than the deer and only a few of them are allowed to be hunted each year, from what I hear many small airports in the area are concerned about elk on the runway. I often wonder if there is any use in bringing animals back into areas, it seems as though reintroducing them into these areas causes more headaches than good sometimes.
 
the michigan story is odd, but a definite necessity. in two days, i saw more rotting carcasses along the interstates than anywhere else in my life. it's funny.. there are people that patrol the highways for cars along the road to tag and tow them, but rotting animals? sure, let all the kiddies on holiday see what a deer's brains and chest cavity look like...

as for reintroducing the animals, humans have done more destruction than any other creature on the planet.
 
Time to revive this 2005 thread. A degree in music and English and he gets a job as a scarecrow.

University graduate finds work as human scarecrow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-19846642
By Jon Welch
BBC News

Jamie Fox was told to bring a deckchair and a good book to his job as a human scarecrow

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It sounds like the ideal job - the chance to sit down, read a book and perhaps idly strum a ukulele.

But Bangor University graduate Jamie Fox has to do it in all weathers, as a human scarecrow in a field in Norfolk.

Mr Fox, 22, has been employed to scare partridges from a field of oilseed rape at Aylsham because conventional birdscarers have not worked.

As well as wearing a bright orange coat, Mr Fox uses an accordion and a cowbell to frighten the birds.

Mr Fox, who graduated in the summer with a degree in music and English, earns about £250 a week scaring the partridges from the 10-acre (four-hectare) field.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

I ring a cowbell and I've even played the accordion, but the ukulele doesn't seem to have any effect on them”

Jamie Fox
"The farmer said to me, 'Bring a deckchair and a good book'," said Mr Fox, who hopes to find a job in music and is learning to play the ukulele during quiet moments in the field.

'Friends are envious'
"I get to sit and read for a lot of the time but whenever I see the partridges, I have to get up and scare them off," he said.

"I ring a cowbell and I've even played the accordion, but the ukulele doesn't seem to have any effect on them."

Mr Fox, of Aylsham, hopes to travel to New Zealand next year and is saving to pay for the trip.

"It's not a bad job. I've read some books and listened to a few podcasts," he said.

"A couple of my friends in busier, more generously-paid jobs, are slightly envious.

"It's nice to be out in the fresh air, although it gets very cold when the wind whips across the field and I've had to shelter in a wood when it's rained."

'Fillet steak'

Mr Fox graduated from Bangor University with a degree in music and English
The only company Mr Fox gets during his eight-hour shifts is from the occasional passing dog-walker or farm worker.

Farmer William Youngs also drops in to check on him every day.

He said he decided to employ a human birdscarer after other methods failed to stop the birds eating the young rape shoots.

"Partridges love rape - it's like fillet steak to them," said Mr Youngs.

"They nibble the leaves off, just leaving the stalk, and then it dies. Two or three years ago, we lost 30 acres (12 hectares), worth thousands of pounds.

"We've tried using bangers to scare them off but the partridges just come back a few minutes later.

"The only way to get rid of them is to walk down the field and push them off."

He said Mr Fox was proving a very effective deterrent.

"Jamie's doing a good job. You can really see the difference," he said.
 
Children were often employed as 'bird scarers' in past times. There's a famous Victorian painting of one, a poor, lonely, sad little waif, sat out in a wintry field. :(
 
Mythopoeika said:
ramonmercado said:
"Partridges love rape - it's like fillet steak to them," said Mr Youngs.

:shock:

I suspect this is what he meant.

Rape-mustard-family-members-flowers-cross-petals.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I recall a friend of mine bringing an Australian lady friend over for dinner one night. Not long after their arrival he said to her 'note that I haven't said anything about this yet'. He then turned to me and said 'what is the name of the yellow flowering plants that we have loads of round here.' 'Rape', I replied. Turns out that she hadn't believed him that there was a plant called rape.
 
Canola is what it's commonly called here, too. Presumably because it's easier to market than rape seed oil.

Now it has the image problem that canola is seen as being a cheap replacement for more exotic vegetable oils, so there's more of a push to call it rapeseed to make it sound more exotic.
 
Link

According to this the agents are primarily paid commission on what they collect, not what they lend.

Just imagine this job. Being paid for collecting on tough debts in the rainy, dark north of England, a bit like an old rent collector, just a little more seedy.
 
GENEVA — Wanted: Hermit to live in secluded cave-like cabin to take care of nearby chapel and gorge, dispense wisdom and talk to tourists. Position pays $24,000 a year, plus room and board and a paid vacation.

Twenty-two people applied for this unusual vacancy advertised by the northern Swiss town of Solothurn. Former policeman Michael Daum, 55, snagged the position that has existed since the 15th century.

Starting in October, he will begin a solitary existence in his isolated dwelling.

"I have lots of respect for the new job, and am looking forward to starting it,” Daum told the Solothurner Zeitung newspaper Tuesday.

City Council president Sergio Wyniger said Daum was picked, because "in Michael, we have found a charismatic personality, which is the right quality for our hermit," according to the newspaper. ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-a-swiss-town-pays-dollar24000-a-year-for-a-hermit/ar-BBwHSAa
 
GENEVA — Wanted: Hermit to live in secluded cave-like cabin to take care of nearby chapel and gorge, dispense wisdom and talk to tourists. Position pays $24,000 a year, plus room and board and a paid vacation.

Twenty-two people applied for this unusual vacancy advertised by the northern Swiss town of Solothurn. Former policeman Michael Daum, 55, snagged the position that has existed since the 15th century.

Starting in October, he will begin a solitary existence in his isolated dwelling.

"I have lots of respect for the new job, and am looking forward to starting it,” Daum told the Solothurner Zeitung newspaper Tuesday.

City Council president Sergio Wyniger said Daum was picked, because "in Michael, we have found a charismatic personality, which is the right quality for our hermit," according to the newspaper. ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-a-swiss-town-pays-dollar24000-a-year-for-a-hermit/ar-BBwHSAa
o_O
If I'm going to be a hermit, I don't want to talk to tourists. That's kind of the point of being a hermit.

"Another previous hermit, Verena Dubacher, quit after complaining that people wanted to chat with her, and — in a true hermit-like manner — she was unwilling to engage in social interactions."

Like her :)
 
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