Qantas engineers using broom handles to ward off snakes on a plane

QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQL (MSN 074)            File Photo

If you're a rattlesnake looking to avoid to scorching heats and bitter chills of California's Mojave Desert, the wheel well of a A380 plane is a welcome shelter.
But if you're a Qantas technician looking to keep the idle jumbo jets in tip-top shape, a rattlesnake is the last thing you want to deal with. A substantial part of the Qantas fleet is currently sitting idle in the Mojave Desert because of reduced demand from the pandemic.

Many of those planes have taken on some unwelcome passengers, notably the crotalus scutulatus, one of America's deadliest snakes. Consequently, Qantas engineers have been equipped with "wheel whackers", repurposed broom handles which scare off the rattlesnakes sitting in the wheels.
"The area is well known for its feisty 'rattlers' who love to curl up around the warm rubber tyres and in the aircraft wheels and brakes," Qantas Manager for Engineering in Los Angeles Tim Heywood said.

"The first thing we do before we unwrap and start any ground inspections of the landing gear in particular is to walk around the aircraft stomping our feet and tapping the wheels with a wheel whacker to wake up and scare off the snakes.
"That's about making sure no harm comes to our engineers or the snakes."

But while the planes are in "hibernation", they need to be maintained to keep them in good nick.
That includes maintaining plastic sheeting to the seats and covering wheels, tyres and landing gear with protective film. Any opening on the plane needs to be plugged to stop insects, birds and bats getting in.
"Aircraft like these are highly technical and you can't just land it at the storage facility, park it and walk away," Mr Heywood said.
"It's really important that even when in deep storage, the aircraft are maintained to the Qantas standard."
The Mojave desert is an ideal place for idle aircraft, thanks to its incredibly dry conditions.

The Crotalus scutulatus, or Mojave rattlesnake, is well known for its powerful neurotoxic-hemotoxic venom. The hemotoxic part of the venom destroys red blood cells, disrupts clotting and causes organ degeneration and tissue damage. The neurotoxin targets the central nervous system.

An untreated bite from the Mojave rattlesnake can be deadly, but the use of antivenoms mean fatalities are rare.

Story sourced from here

Qantas engineers using broom handles to ward off snakes on a plane (9news.com.au)