Mt. Lebanon has ended sharpshooting phase of deer management due to current/projected warm weather. More info on homepage,www.mtlebanon.org.
Deer Management Update (February 23, 2017)
SHARPSHOOTING HAS CONCLUDED. The sharpshooting phase of this year's deer management program has ended because of the unseasonably warm weather, which is projected to continue. There has been diminished activity at bait sights because deer now have other food sources, so the
municipality cut the program short rather than expend additional funds for what would be a diminishing return.
Under the contract, either party has the right to end the program with notice; payment is only for time and materials expended as of the date the program ends. The municipality and White Buffalo, the contractor, agreed that ending the program now was the most fiscally responsible course of action.
White Buffalo will provide a final report in the near future, which will be posted here.
Update February 23, 2017 8:44 PM Now it's a five year program.
“It was the fiscally responsible decision,” said municipal spokeswoman Susan Morgans. “They reached about half the [2016-17] goal … but there was not a sense of disappointment. We’re just two years into a five-year program.”http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2017/02/23/Mt-Lebanon-calls-off-rifle-cull/stories/201702230185
Update February 24, 2017 3:56 PM DeNicola told me last year that the type of bait and how it is distributed is proprietary. Here is how he does it in Cincinnati.
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| This is DeNicola spreading corn over in Cincinnati last month. No bait stations. |
15 comments:
Huzzah!
So deer vehicle accidents aren't on the municipality's radar if there is warm weather!
Shows just how poorly planned this whole deer program has been from the getgo, but I'd be willing to bet there's more to be told.
I took down my "Not In My Yard" sign!
Oh happy day!
Elaine
Déjà vu... well almost, at least this time they didn't try to blame vandalism.
"Weather, vandalism end deer cull" 3/20/15
https://www.google.com/amp/s/wtae.relaymedia.com/amp/article/mt-lebanon-deer-culling-ends-11-days-early/7470674
Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results" – Albert Einstein
Pretty much says it all about our municipal management, doesn't it?
Now we are in year two of a five year program, according to Susan Morgans. At one time, we were counting Merlin Benner's contract as Year One. Technically, we should be in Year Three, but who's counting? Or maybe next year, they won't count this year, so we could be in Year Two again. Susan Morgans has the power to spin it any way she wants.
Elaine
Don't get me wrong. I am delighted that the "sharpshooting" has ended, but it is not adding up. Susan Morgans said that they reached half their goal (of 100) half way through the twelve days of shooting. What is the REAL reason Tony left town?
Elaine
I don't buy DeNicola's BS excuse at all. What other food sources do the deer have? Yes, the weather has been warmer, but there's nothing growing yet for the deer to eat. There's no spring growths. The corn they're likely using for bait would draw just as many deer now as before. My guess is that DeNicola shut the program down, because they couldn't find any more deer to kill, and so used this excuse in an effort to save face and credibility. DeNicola's deer population estimates were all BS. If they were true, they'd have no problem finding deer to kill.
Morgan's said“They reached about half the [2016-17] goal … but there was not a sense of disappointment. We’re just two years into a five-year program.”
So does this mean DeNicola's shooters killed 50 deer, i.e. 1/2 of 100? Why couldn't she just say how many deer he killed? She knows the number. Taxpayers have a right to know, and a right to know how much he was paid for not reaching his objectives.
So happy Susan's not disappointed, there's always next year that they can get back to the good old days of blowing the brains out of those pesky does and fawns. We don't know if Barbara Logan was disappointed or not; i.e. it depends if they were able to kill all of her back yard deer friends this year, or if her deer "laid low" until the killing was over. My guess is that she's probably happy, because I'm sure her yard was the #1 priority killing sight in the entire community.
BTW, this 4 year, I mean 5 year killing plan is just a ruse. This killing plan is planned to be an annual event moving forward, just like in USC. Once DeNicola starts these killing programs they go on for ever. They initially say its a 4 year program just to make residents think that there's an end objective in sight and that killing works. However, killing doesn't work, and that's why it has to go on for forever. Plus, they think after 4 or 5 yrs. that the opposition will have stopped, and everyone will accept this as the new normal. Hunting and shooting in Mt. Lebanon will be the new normal, unless these commissioners are thrown out of office and a new commission stops it.
That said, it's very good news and a big relief that the gun toting camouflage mercinaries running around Mt. Lebanon shooting in the neighborhoods and parks will be the hell out of here, and that residents can once again feel safe, until next fall, when it starts all over again.
That's what 2:08 thinks too. Something isn't adding up.
Morgans reports they got half way to their goal in 12 days and the sharp shooting was to run thru March.
Sounds like they were doing OK, so why the rush to shut it down?
Hi Elaine...I agree with you, something doesn't make sense. Referencing your post at 10:16 we're being told that half way through the program they reached roughly 50% removal of deer. If they are having that much sharpshooting success after an archery program that removed only 33 deer, why stop now?
It was also stated on the website, "the municipality and White Buffalo, the contractor, agreed that ending the program now was the most fiscally responsible course of action."
If the success rate is so good, which we're being told, wouldn't it be more fiscally responsible to continue the program, not end it early? I bet DeNicola is still walking away with a big chunk of taxpayer money.
Like your other posters wrote, there's more to this than we're being told.
If I remember correctly, we were never told the real reason Merlin packed his bags early, were we?
Nick M.
I find it suspicious that just a day or two after people question the $9,000 archery bill, they shut down the White Buffalo sharpshooting effort.
I'm curious, does anyone know if the "volunteer" archers received compensation in the form of compound bows, arrows, trail cameras and "tackle" would they be considered "paid" contractors and therefore their activities would fall under RTK examination by the public?
Theres no way in hell that he is non profit !
Any IRS out there ?
7:49 AM, his 990's show that he takes good care of himself. He is just like any other non-profit CEO who is well-compensated.
If you are thinking tax evasion, 7:49 AM, he is just taking advantage of the system.
There have been some pretty interesting archery related RTKs filed lately. I wonder if that might have something to do with Tony leaving town. I think he is just another snake oil salesman who takes advantage of our "know nothing" commissioners.
Elaine
I can't stop laughing.
White Buffalo Inc. post this on their website: "White Buffalo Inc.’s strategic approach to urban deer management is designed to address and avoid the most common cause of failure; an “educated” deer population that is skilled in avoiding management activities. Well before the first deer is euthanized, we focus on how to engage with the last. The defining strategic characteristic of every population control effort is the management team’s singular focus on preventing the remaining deer from being educated to avoid humans, even as the population is rapidly reduced."
That one sentence "Well before the first deer is euthanized, we focus on how to engage with the last."
Unless of course, they can't find the last one since they're not precisely sure how many deer they're hunting!
(Remember, Paul Curtis from Cornell said we have 700 to 800 deer in Mt. Lebanon. The aerial surveys found less than 200)
So were they focused on deer #197, deer #700 or deer #800 and were they so intensely focused that they forgot to consider the weather.
The Rat Lady triumphs, again. Hooray for The Rat Lady. Our kids are now safe walking to/from school.
SP
This has not been a good venture for the gardeners, at all. The archers have expended such extreme amounts of time sitting in trees in the dead of winter that we may reasonably hope that interest will not be there next year for them or their friends to continue to "donate" their time. And then there's the amazing answer to prayer in the form of plants popping up everywhere in successful competition with DeNicola's stale, probably moldy corn. Then there's the admission (after draining Scott's legal coffers) that Scott Twp. has been right all along: they can't possibly safely kill deer in Twin Hills Park! Babs must be inconsolable. And it just gets worse and worse for the deer-haters, with declared candidates at the ready to unseat some of our deer-hating commissioners.
We can agree with the rightness of the general who said: "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!" We're not going away; we're not going anywhere!
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