Mt. Lebanon Puts Plan In Place To Begin Culling Deer Population
“When we see the deer are in there, we send a text message back to the gate and it closes,” Linfante said.
Since Pennsylvania doesn’t allow relocating the deer, a wildlife team will go to the corral at night and shoot the deer.
“Because of the close range, it’s a very immediate result and there are very few risks or concerns involved,” Linfante says.
Update January 29, 2015 12:45 PM Wildlife Specialists, LLC proposal and signed agreement has been uploaded on to the municipal website. A link to the proposal and agreement has been added to this update.
32 comments:
Doesn't Linfante looks so smug! Let's require her, Logan and any other pro-cull people to take a shift witnessing the shootings from up on the platforms.
After all, these people that pushed for this should be there to confirm that it's being done right. Maybe they could take their kids with them.
It'll be an educational experience they'll never forget.
Linfante and co. will be able to witness it from the Galleria parking lot.
Elaine
At the last commission meeting, I asked how we were going to be notified of the "up to eight locations" and Steve Feller said that it would be on the municipal website. I take that to mean that the municipality is ignoring Commissioner Kelly Fraasch's request to notify neighboring properties by letter.
I hope Lebo Citizens readers will report baiting or other activity in the next few days, in order to give residents a heads up.
Elaine
http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2014/04/confessions-sharpshooter-how-deer-cull-actually-works
"Anyone who lives in a state that permits baiting for deer will tell you it’s [baiting] not the slam dunk that some would have you believe. Yearlings would be all over our bait piles, but it was difficult to get the older, wiser deer to commit on a regular basis. Those deer would typically hit a pile once and disappear, if we saw them on the cameras at all. In areas with a lot of ornamental horticulture, deer have a smorgasbord of dining options, which makes baiting them even trickier. Once a cull started we would work consecutive nights for about a week, but would see diminishing returns after the first night."
And when this corraling doesn't reduce the Lebo deer population, what will be next?
The other questions needed to be asked-- if this corral idea is so easy why hasn't it been used before in Pennsylvania?
Why is Mt. Lebanon being used as the initial test and how did they determine the $500/deer bounty (coincidently about what the commission earmarked for deer extermination) if the "expert" was the only bidder?
Yes, you mentioned this at the meeting, but we are not talking about forrests. Besides, this isn't about forrests or gardens, remember? Even though it really IS about gardens.
Elaine
I removed the link to the too many deer blog. The decision has been made to kill deer. Go back to your celebration.
Elaine
Why don't the "gardners" hire Merlin on their own, to set up his corral on their two acre lots?
They don't need the Game Commission's permission to do it and after all they want the deer gone.
My thanks to whoever January 29, 2015 at 8:43 AM is for providing the link to Outdoor Life's story about deer culling on eastern Long Island. Reading the story was like a trip down memory lane for me, as I once lived in East Hampton Township.
Back in 1967 the deer herd out on the Island had reached epic proportions, especially in an area the locals call "The Flats," located between the village of East Hampton and Hither Hills, just west of Montauk Point - Montauk being as far east as one can go in New York without a boat. "The Flats" is about six miles of straight, narrow, sea-level land, and back then there was little on it except for a coastal Maritime short-wave station, the Sunrise Highway (Rt. 27), and deer. One night I was driving my Dodge from Montauk to East Hampton to meet some friends, barreling across The Flats at a high rate of speed (youth and high-spirits), when the road suddenly became lost in a sea of venison! I slammed on the brakes. The herd loomed before me, but like the Red Sea of Old, suddenly parted, and I managed to miss all of them except for one doe that I tapped with my car just as it was coming to a stop. I knocked her over, but neither the doe nor the car was injured. She got up, gave me "the look" (after I married I saw that look many times!), and trotted off. It was a miracle!
The "New Money" that had moved into the area was hot to have the herd culled; the deer were eating their plants and making a general nuisance of themselves (sound familiar?). The "Old Money," who may not have liked the deer but had learned to live with them, was outraged. In the end the "New Money" got their way. A limited hunt out on The Flats was authorized.
Recently I was perusing the records for the Town of East Hampton and discovered they have a "deer management program" in place. Interesting. Nearly fifty years after I knocked over Bambi's mother, and many culls later, the locals are still fighting with the deer.
It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood... can you say- collusion?
Of course you can.
Speaking of commission initiatives and goals, i wonder if anyone is counting how many game slots our $1 million+ turf installation at Wildcat/Middle will be adding in February?
Like field sign revenue and game slots, it's probably a very good bet they won't honesty achieve a 150 deer cull and deer/vehicle collisions won't decline.
Be sure to see the experience listed on page 14 of Merlin Benner's proposal and signed agreement. I added a link to the 12:45 PM update.
Elaine
I'll bet, Merlin, 'unbiased' deer control advisor to the comissioners never shared cull results for other communities like the ones in the link below.
http://www.deerfriendly.com/deer-population-control
Do you have to be a psychopath to shoot deer in the brain behind a fence? I need to get out of this town. With my family. Pronto.
Wait a minute.
In Santoni's Trib article he writes: "Mt. Lebanon commissioners on Monday approved a contract with Wellsboro-based Wildlife Specialists LLC and its president, J. Merlin Benner, to lure deer into 8-foot-tall, 30-foot-diameter corrals of fencing covered in fabric."
http://triblive.com/mobile/7650421-96/deer-corrals-lebanon
Unfortunately on page 3, second paragraph of Wildlife's proposal there is a descrepency with Santoni's report.
The Brenner proposal specifically reads "if deer are captured during daylight hours, screening will be erected around the corral of captured deer prior to euthanasia activities to prevent observation by the public."
Screening will be erected! That doesn't sound like the corral will be covered at all times.
I suspect Santoni was given bad info or that possibly the commissioners/Feller can't comprehend what they read or are trying to sanitize the cull for the public.
My guess is the corral won't be screened full time because...
1. it'll will interfere with the deer finding the bait and...
2. the timid deer won't enter a space that limits their possible escape.
Also, why screen the killing from the public? If we're so blood-thirsty to want the killing, we shouldn't be shielded from the results.
There it is folks, in print. Brumfield, Silverman and Linfante voted yes to a deer culling program that will be instituted in our community by a company whose experience is listed as tested, assisted, evaluated, assessment of, negotiation with, etc...
Note too, Mr. Brenner had to have personal communication with the folks at Jager Pro to see how successful the corral system was with deer, primarily because the Jager Pro corral system was built for hogs. Again, no actual experience by Mr. Brenner or his staff using corrals to trap deer. And who the heck knows how the actual shooting of the deer is to be performed.
In a nutshell, 3 of our commissioners voted on a plan to bring in a contractor with no experience to test a system to trap and euthanize deer whose incentive is to maximize profits with minimal costs.
Nick M.
I was harassed to sign a petition on deer management by my co-workers and now I see this!!!! I asked specifically if the deer could be killed and they said NO! I signed the petition thinking it was about deer management not killing. I am livid!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was told that signing a petition in the GE parking lot meant I was advocating for the deer to be moved. Is that not true?
Was Giant Eagle supporting this effort?
Anyone else asking the question if the shooters are out at dinner and their text goes off, how long do the deer have to wait in the slaughter box?
Linfante, Brumfield and Silverman will live with any consequences from this vote and Fraasch will once again look a step above. The 4 commissioners can always talk around in circles trying to convince themselves this was the right decision but at the end of the day this was a horrible decision on the backs of the residents.
2:08 PM, did you see Kristen peddling signatures at Market District? I found out yesterday that she was one of the ones harassing Market District customers.
Elaine
Anon at 9:32 Jan 29
The Commonwealth Game Commission, which claims authority over all wildlife, will only authorize / approve nuisance animal abatement programs from municipalities or individual land owners engaged in agricultural business enterprises.
Others are ineligible.
Yes, 2:05 PM, I first noticed her smiling about that when I was sitting on stage next to her in Mellon Auditorium during the Candidates Forum in May 2011. At that time, Kristen had a sick smile on her face when she said that we must kill the deer. I wish I had a video of that because you would have seen me shudder.
Elaine
ET Gillen Yes, it was her. Same woman that was on the video.
2:36 but the game commission doesn't want to know or care about private hunts occurring in residential neighborhoods in Mt. Lebanon.
Can you say... idiocracy!
I saw a deer today. It startled me. I didn't want to kill it.
This is so disturbing on so many levels.. anyone care to organized a demonstration..? I honestly say that most Lebo residents have no idea what their Commissioners just approved and the manner of execution..
Kristen's cell phone number was on the Trib's Facebook page and I reprinted it here. Please, when contacting Kristen, do NOT text her or call her. Those never show up in Right To Knows. Instead, please email the ENTIRE commission at commission@mtlebanon.org so that the entire commission sees it, as well as Steve Feller, the Open Records Officer. Kristen has never produced any text messages when asked. If you have texted or called her with a complaint, follow up with an email. Thanks.
Elaine
2:56pm I won't let that one slide, because some knew exactly what was approved and are ok with it. Actually pushed for it. Called the deer oversized rats and should be removed from the community. I know you didn't but others in the community should be called out for the efforts.
On the other hand, does anyone have Kelly Frasch's phone number? I think everyone should be calling and thanking her.
January 29, 2015 at 2:03 PM
I agree, what Benner told Santoni doesn't seem to jive with Benner's RFP response at all, which raises a lot of questions and concerns.
BTW, I got the impression from all of Linfante's statements that all the killing would only be performed at night, and so hearing that they will be capturing and shooting deer in the parks and golf course during the day was quite shocking.
I saw Kristen. She frightened me. I wish we could bait her with more elephant tusk, put her in a corral and shoot intelligence at her. Unfortunately, her hairspray would repel it.
There is something seriously wrong with all those chicks who want the deer killed. I dont aee any of them setting down their Michael Koors purses and picking up a rifle. Typical liberal lunatics who want want want but wont do do do.
I hate to burst Linfante's "humanitarian" feel good justification for slaughtering the deer and feeding the poor with Mt. Lebanon's donated venison, but here are some safety facts about eating wild venison, that should alarm any municipality getting into the deer killing and donating venison business.
The dangers and health risks of eating wild venison:
* Wild deer (venison) doesn't originate from an approved USDA inspected food source.
* The meat doesn't go through a USDA inspection to make sure it's safe to eat.
* The field-dressing (gutting) process subjects the meat to environmental contamination and temperature abuse, i.e. E-Coli and other bacterial contamination.
* Recent CDC studies show that eating (rifle shot) venison significantly raises lead exposure to dangerous levels, especially for children and pregnant women .
* Wild deer (venison) typically has high levels of herbicides and pesticides from browsing on treated grass, i.e. True Green applications. Eating the golf course deer will probably kill you.
In Rochester NY the USDA made an exception and inspected deer meat from a bait and shoot culling. They wrote, "All of the venison which was salvaged from the bait and shoot operation in Rochester was found to be unfit for human consumption ... The intention had been to donate this meat to the NYS prison system to be fed to prisoners. We have seized it and will oversee its destruction."
At risk are low-income beneficiaries of venison donation. While the rich can choose between their USDA inspected meats, the poor are being fed uninspected meats with the high probabiliy of disease and bacterial contamination, and dangerous levels of lead and pesticides poisoning.
This issue has become even more serious with the lead poisoning guidelines being recently revised.
Lead poisoning guidelines revised; more considered at risk
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-16/cdc-blood-lead-level-standard/55005258/1
Some additional articles for reference:
Lead found in donated venison at food shelves
http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/17072096.html
Minnesota food shelves will halt distribution of venison donated by hunters after lead particles were discovered in ground venison at North Dakota food shelves. ... Authorities urged that any donated meat that had already left the food shelves not be eaten.
Eating venison, other game raises lead exposure
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/lead-in-game-meat
Wild game source of lead for those who eat the hunted meat.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org:80/ehs/newscience/lead-from-bullets-ends-up-in-wild-game-and-people/
So if anyone gets sick or worse on Mt. Lebanon donated venison, will Mt. Lebanon be liable for damages.
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