When the pandemic hit in March 2020, essentially shutting down Vail and Beaver Creek, McMahon, furloughed from his job at Beano’s Cabin, suddenly had a lot of time on his hands. So he started snowshoeing up Beaver Creek Mountain.

On one of those sojourns, he happened upon the resort’s snow stake camera and decided to have a little fun—posting a sign protesting a decision by Vail Resorts (VR) to shutter its workforce housing. That led to social media fame, and four more signs needling VR, before he was caught in the act by a game camera and apprehended by security personnel, resulting in a court appearance, a pink slip, and, he says, a lifetime ban from VR property.

So McMahon bought a chicken suit on Amazon (figuring a feathered costume would provide anonymity and at least some warmth) and began sign-waving in public roundabouts from Vail to Gypsum. Many months and some 500 signs later, the Vail Chicken Man’s raison d’être has evolved from railing against his former employer (McMahon now works the front of house at Vail Village’s La Cantina) to serving as the everyman’s public crier. He accepts sign commissions from strangers on the street and followers on Instagram (@chickenman_vail)—where he posts pics of his latest work, announces his itinerary, and draws attention to community issues, be it yet another suicide (“Mental Health Matters: Check on Yo Peeps”), a swatting hoax at a public school (“This Community Needs to Support These Kids”), or homelessness (“To All the Locals Living in Cars or on Couches: You Are Not Alone”).

Says McMahon: “People in this valley are the most awesome people I’ve ever met. Outside of this valley, anyone in the workforce would be told to get a real job, but here, we are the real jobs. One thing I’m trying to get people to realize is that we might not have the power of money, but we have power in votes.”

And on signs.