No mention of archers, baiters, or shooters...Ever

I have mentioned the manager's weekly Administrative Report sent to commissioners and copied to municipal staff in previous posts. I want to share last week's report, as well as this week's report to the commissioners.

Administrative Report #5 February 3, 2017

Administrative Report #6 February 10, 2017

The commissioners learn about missing manhole covers, limited usage of golf carts during mild weather, tree inspections, and the occasional hole in one, but there has NEVER been anything mentioned about the two archery programs or the deer "removal activities" from last year or this year. No mention of baiting. Nothing about when it began. No mention of the report which will be presented by Keith McGill at Tuesday's Discussion Session.

I find it ironic that golf cart usage will be restricted, but Team Tony will be permitted to drive trucks and drag deer carcasses at the golf course.

I get it. It is not relevant, right? The commissioners don't want to know or aren't allowed to know anything about their lethal plans which cost $100,000 a year. Don't ask. Don't tell. Got it.

I hate to be lied to

Over the past couple days, I have been having an email exchange with Dr. Tony DeNicola. the man who has a doctorate in bait. Below is a continuation of the email exchange that I had shared in my last post.

From: Anthony DeNicola <tony.denicola@whitebuffaloinc.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>; alauth <alauth@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Sun, Feb 28, 2016 7:53 am
Subject: Re: Bait

Elaine,

No problem at all.  I am still assessing how well our mechanical feeders are working at timing deer arrival times with some different baits.  We are trying to get the deer to come predictably after dark, so that is very difficult.

I will give it another week or so.  We still have plenty of time before the permit expires at the end of March.

Tony

On Sunday, February 28, 2016, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:

Tony,

I did a quick search and found this on Field and Stream's website. http://www.fieldandstream.com/answers/quick-tips/if-you-want-deer-bait-will-drive-deer-crazy-try-grape-kool-aid-guy-dnr-gave-me-ti 

"They also like peanut butter, apples, syrup, and pretty much anything else you would feed a five year old according to other posts. Good luck with the kool-aid. I'm sticking with corn."

We were told that you started baiting over a month ago. I'm am trying not to sound snarky,  but sincerely, I would think you would have some idea as to what bait has worked and what mechanism you are using to distribute it by now. Do you have an estimate as to when you will have it sorted out? This week? Next week?

Respectfully,

Elaine Gillen

-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony DeNicola <tony.denicola@whitebuffaloinc.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>; alauth <alauth@mtebanon.org>; alauth <alauth@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Sat, Feb 27, 2016 5:59 pm
Subject: Re: Bait

We are still sorting out the best method.  Once we have better data I will let you know.

Tony

On Saturday, February 27, 2016, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:

Yes, thank you for your response, Tony. I can understand that bait is a regional thing. From what I've learned at commission meetings, Mt. Lebanon deer are not picky eaters. So what did you end up using here? Also, what method of distributing the bait are you using?

Thanks in advance for your clarification.

I had originally made a mistake typing Aaron's email, so I have added his correct (I hope!) email address. Sorry about that, Aaron.

Elaine Gillen

-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony DeNicola <tony.denicola@whitebuffaloinc.org>
To: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>; alauth <alauth@mtebanon.org>
Sent: Fri, Feb 26, 2016 8:01 pm
Subject: Re: Bait

Keith,

Baiting is more of an art than a science.  We use a multitude of options depending on what the local deer seem to prefer most, what is available, and relative cost.  It can be apples, deer feed, corn, alpha pellets, etc.  We place bait out at each location where we are active, primarily on private properties throughout the municipality typically several weeks in advance of getting started whether it is for capture purposes or for lethal management programs.

I hope this helps,

Tony

Anthony J. DeNicola Ph.D.  | President |  White Buffalo Inc.

M: (860) 790-0224  |  tony.denicola@whitebuffaloinc.org

Find Us: whitebuffaloinc.org | Facebook | LinkedIn

IT IS ALL BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!

I have photos of the baiting being done at the golf course and at McNeilly - which wasn't to be part of the public areas.

Access to the golf course is from Arch Street in Castle Shannon.

Piles of corn in golf course

Piles of corn in the golf course

Woods below the golf course

Access to McNeilly is right by the creek behind the golf course. Go up the driveway on McNeilly.

Piles of corn in McNeilly

Piles of corn in McNeilly

Tuffs of fur, no blood at McNeilly

Piles of corn in McNeilly

If a Lebo Citizens reader can get the GPS coordinates, it would be helpful. There was no evidence of tree stands or trail cameras.

This is Tony's high tech system of baiting. No mechanical feeders. What a bullshitter. I always told my kids that if they did something bad, that's one thing. But to lie to my face made it worse. I hate to be lied to.

4 Public Properties Identified

Through my latest Right To Know, I found the list of public properties that are being considered. The four are:

Robb Hollow Park
Golf Course
Bird Park
McNeilly Park

Public properties and maps

This will give parents nightmares. From Steve Felle's September 4, 2015 Administrative report:

Update September 4, 2015 12:35 PM Highlights from the following link of documents include:

With four public properties and ten - fifteen "quality" private properties, White Buffalo would be fortunate to "harvest" 100 deer.

Deer are smart and will avoid public land that is being hunted, so expect fairly rapid diminishing return. Extend the hunting season as long as possible and have as much private property as possible.

If Mt. Lebanon wants to set aside some money to support meat processing costs, it is typically about $70 per deer.

An archery program is difficult to sustain over time and typically has a honeymoon period of 2-3 years.

The density of the homes is problematic, so Jody Maddock wants to be conservative in any estimate.

And from Steve Feller:

"Several emails were not produced that dealt with persons volunteering to donate their time or property to the program either as an archer or property owner. These were not produced under two exceptions:

(1) The Act at Section 708(b)(1) provides as follows:
     (1) A record the disclosure of which:
           ***

(ii) would be reasonably likely to result in a substantial and demonstrable risk of physical harm to or the personal security of an individual.

(2) The Act at Section 708(b)(13) provides as follows: 

         (13) Records that would disclose the identity of an individual who lawfully makes a donation to an agency unless the donation is intended for or restricted to providing remuneration or personal tangible benefit to a named public official or employee of the agency, including lists of potential donors compiled by an agency to pursue donations, donor profile information or personal identifying information relating to a donor."

Would someone like to translate that for me? Is that saying that the people who want to open their yards to killing and put our adults, children, and pets at risk want protection? Isn't that a bit ironic?

By calling the private properties "Donations," the identity of the landowner is protected.  Wow. They have it all figured out.

Second location at golf course identified UPDATED

If you are on Sleepy Hollow standing in the old Giant Eagle, the corral is across Sleepy Hollow and up on the hill. The access road is on Arch, which is Castle Shannon. GPS coordinates are coming soon below. It is an active killing site. There is a corral/trap with straw inside, netting over the top and bullet holes through the plastic. Hard to tell the trajectory, but they may be shooting uphill.

Also, the No Trespassing Zones have been expanded at the Connor Road site. I was told that this was also done at Robb Hollow.

The small white dots are bullet holes

Golf Course

Golf Course

Warning sign in front of trap, taken from golf course

This pdf of coordinates show exactly where the second corral is at the golf course. They were adjusted after locating the approximate coordinates, so there was no trespassing involved.
  
40.3718056,-80.0201944

https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B022'18.5%22N+80%C2%B001'12.7%22W/@40.3718056,-80.0201944,502m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

Mr. Benner, there are 8 deer in Mt. Lebanon's Galleria for an upcoming movie.
Ch-ching!

Update March 16, 2015 3:30 PM Commissioner Kelly Fraasch has posted the week's kill on her blog. Deer Program from Monday, March 9 - Monday March 16. Kelly has also included: 

From March 9th-March 13th Animal Control has picked up 4 dead deer, on Locust, Scott, Moreland and Birch.

Moreland is just above the corral/killing trap at Robb Hollow. I have no details as to how the deer had died.

Update March 16, 2015 9:29 PM The mapmaker was being conservative in relation to the location of the accident involving the motorcycle accident on Connor Road. The turkeys may have been closer to the corral.

Commissioners did not actually vote on the archery component

Finally, something truthful from our commission president. Mt. Lebanon calls off controlled deer hunt

Commissioners did not actually vote on the archery component, Ms. Linfante said.

Kristen is on a roll. A major, major roll.

“This is a major, major safety issue we’re dealing with,” Mt. Lebanon Commission President Kristen Linfante said.

The PG article continues with:

Since 2011 there have been 765 reported incidents involving the herbivorous menaces in the municipality, ranging from dead and injured deer to deer stuck in fences to deer “tearing up” a yard, according to an online tracker.

The "765 reported incidents" is a fictitious number. Deer sightings are being included as "reported incidents." For some unknown reason, I am included as one of those residents who reported an incident. That is a goddam lie. I NEVER REPORTED ANY INCIDENT!  How do I get that removed?

Kristen continues on Facebook.

Where the hell did 600 deer in Mt. Lebanon come from, Kristen? If deer are such a "major, major safety issue" in Mt. Lebanon, and there are "765 reported incidents," shouldn't you be reporting a negative number of deer? When filing Right To Knows, Lebo Citizens, please keep in mind that social media communication is to be included. That is why I ask for ALL communication, but Mr. Feller never includes that. Seriously, why do we have mtl Magazine on Facebook?

Kristen continues with the PG reporter by throwing Kelly Fraasch under the bus with another lie.

“On one hand I really hold some of my colleagues responsible who were resistant to coming up with any kind of deer plan at all,” Ms. Linfante said. “At least one of my colleagues is very happy that this thing fell through. I find that unfortunate.”

That colleague would be Ms. Fraasch, who favors a sterlization [sic] approach and said she had proposed a plan in 2012.

“I’ve obviously had concerns about doing anything lethal in Mt. Lebanon because of the density of the population, so I thought this was actually a bit of a relief,” Ms. Fraasch said. “I think it’s good for Mt. Lebanon to take a moment and make sure this is the right way to go with dealing with our deer-management issue.”

From Kelly Fraasch's December 7, 2012 blog posting, Deer in Mt. Lebanon,  Kelly met with over 30 people (some pro-cull, some anti-cull, and some in-between) trying to find mid ground. This year, Kelly has been working with six communities to institute a regional deer management plan to include sterilization. Kristen is well aware of that.

Many residents have concerns about doing anything lethal in Mt. Lebanon, especially on the golf course and in passive parks adjacent to elementary schools. The golf course was to remain open for business during the archery program, in hopes to collect additional revenue. In addition, the golf course attracts many families, who enjoy sled riding there, when there is snow on the ground.

What about our Public Information Officer?

Ms. Morgans said she “knew nothing about it.” She added that she learned Friday afternoon from the municipal manager about the lack of licenses. It is not clear why it took a week after the news release announcing the hunt for the municipality to learn that no licenses were available.

And the question we have all been asking, "Wouldn't the municipal staff who volunteered be licensed archers already?"

Some Mt. Lebanon employees who planned to volunteer for the bow hunt might already have licenses.
But, Chief McDonough said, “just because of the very small number of deer tags available we decided it wasn’t worth taking four or five.”

It's a Christmas miracle!

The archery program has been canceled. 

Pay no attention to what is on the Mt. Lebanon website home page as of 11:47 AM. 

No LeboAlert. 

The Trib's Matt Santoni published this today, December 22, 2014 at 10:06 AM. Archery hunting in Mt. Lebanon called off for now

The Post-Gazette published this December 22, 2014 at 10:24 AM Mt. Lebanon cancels deer archery cull

Lebo Citizens Blog:

Well, this is another fine mess.
Elaine

December 21, 2014 at 10:21 PM

Update December 22, 2014 12:05 PM Ahh, there it is.

Update December 22, 2014 12:06 PM All is calm. All is bright on the municipal website.

Update December 22, 5:04 PM The Almanac published this today, December 22, 2014 at 11:39 AM.  Lebo deer management hunt cancelled 

Chief McDonough said despite the cancellation of its Deer Management Archery Program, the township still has some options to reduce its deer population – including Capture and Bolt, a harvesting program, or a sterilization program. He declined to go into detail about either plan and said the issue will likely be addressed at the Jan. 14 township meeting.

“It does not mean the commission is stepping back,” from the deer problem, said Susan Morgans, a township spokesperson. “There was only a short period of time to get this together.”

And that is her story and she is sticking to it. Chief McDonough did get it together in time. In addition, the commission meeting is on January 13, not January 14, 2015.

The Mt. Lebanon childhood I had

Since the golf course is "only" used by people over 55, I thought it would be nice for the rest of you to see how we had fun. By the way, FIVE high schools use our golf course.

1. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?

2. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THIS ?

3. WHAT'S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO OBJECTS?

4. DID YOU EVER RIDE ONE OF THESE???

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THESE?

6. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?

7. HAVE YOU EVER SHOPPED AT THIS STORE?

8. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY WITH THESE?

9. DO YOU RECOGNIZE WHO THIS IS?

10. DO YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES?

11. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A GLASS OF THIS?

12. DID YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAVE ONE OF THESE?

13. DID YOU, OR ANYONE YOU KNOW, EVER TAKE THIS CLASS IN SCHOOL?

14. DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S HANGING FROM THE CHAIN OR RUNNING UP THE POLE?

15. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN OR USED ONE OF THESE?

 












16. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THESE ARE?

17. HAVE YOU EVER USED THIS?

18. HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED THIS?

19.

20. WAS THERE EVER A TIME IN YOUR LIFE THAT THIS WAS THE ONLY OPTION TO DRY YOUR CLOTHES?

21. WHAT'S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO OBJECTS?

22.  IS THIS A FAMILIAR SCENE?

23. DOES THIS BRING BACK GOOD MEMORIES?

 24. DID HE EVER COME TO YOUR HOUSE?

25. DID YOU EVER HAVE TO SAY "HELLO" BEFORE YOU KNEW WHO WAS CALLING?

26. DID YOU EVER LAUGH OUT LOUD WATCHING THIS?

DID YOU KNOW...
Those who were born in the '50s, '60s, '70s and early '80s are the last generation who played in the street. During our childhood, we walked over a mile a day when we played & played “hide & seek” outside at night with no worries or fear of anything bad happening to us.

We are the first generation who played video games and the last to record songs off the radio onto a cassette tape. We learned how to program a VCR before anyone else, we were the first to play from Atari to Nintendo…We are the generation of Tom & Jerry, Looney Toons, & Captain Kangaroo. We traveled in cars without seat belts or air bags, lived without cell phones and caller ID. We did not have fax machines, flat screens, surround sound, iPods, Facebook, Twitter, computers or the Internet and, through it all, we had a great time.