Deer, Ducks Present Challenges at Conway’s Cantrell Field

The geography of Conway’s new airport does present some challenges, and maintaining a safe airport means considering all obstacles.

Manager Josh Zylks said the airport is finalizing a wildlife hazard management plan that will focus on some of the dangers animals in the Lollie Bottoms location could pose to aircraft.

Last week the airport was scheduled to hold a one-day training session on using noisemakers to mitigate those dangers.

One method would use flare guns that shoot cartridges called “bangers and screamers” to disperse birds on the runway. The other key tool, a noisemaker attached to a propane tank, lets off explosive sounds intermittently and is aimed at preventing birds from roosting at the airport.

The airport is also equipped with a barbed-wire fence along its border to prevent the other major wildlife hazard — deer — from accessing the runway.

“Being in Conway, we’re close to the river, we are in part of the Mississippi Flyway for waterfowl. Waterfowl and deer — that would be what are considered most dangerous wildlife threats here in and around the airport,” Zylks said.