I was just on a legal tour of Robb Hollow.
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| Netting across the top to prevent deer from jumping out |
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| That is me in the yellow slicker standing outside of the no trespassing zone |
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Glove pointing to killing trap in the distance
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All photos were taken outside of the No Trespassing Zones. Legal tours of killing sites are available. Send me an email (EGillen476@aol.com) with the name of the killing site in the Subject line, and I will be in touch with you.
Some changes in
the amended Game Commission permit include using
clover traps*, which the commission DID NOT want to use, the use of semi-automatic rifles in .223 calliber to be used in these corrals/death traps (See page 2, condition 6), and the increase from two men to five men.
59 comments:
I would hate to live in that house visible in picture #1.
I notice the corral is next to tire tracks.
Are Benner's people using pickup truck beds as their "elevated platforms"
How many PGC laws regarding loaded firearms and vehicles are they violating?
Where the hell is any PGC oversight?
Keep documenting. Keep photographing.
Nice photos!
The gate appears to be closed, I thought they're suppose to be open during the day so the deer get use to using them for feed?
Also what a beautiful, well groomed Mt. Lebanon park that Robb Hollow is!
Thank you for the pics Elaine, will you be legally touring other corals?
If someone told me that I was being shown pictures of traps that are designed to catch deer, I'd say you were crazy. This is absolutely pathetic. What's even worse is that we paid a wildlife expert $12,000 for this idea.
Nick M.
The road behind me is Kelso.
Elaine
Nick M., not today. A couple of people were walking near Bird Park a couple of hours ago and were reported to the police by Gene Huntington. You can't even be outside of No Trespassing Zones without being stopped by the police. What the hell? It is a sunny Sunday afternoon!
Elaine
I think that's technically Robb Hollow Road behind you. Kelso doesn't start until you get to the intersection of Bethany Drive.
Which corrals currently have gates on them, Elaine?
Why are they adding new kinds of traps to the permit?
How the aggression and violence is escalating unchecked illustrates how truly sick these people really are.
Let me get this straight. Residents were walking near Bird Park but not in it and Gene Huntington called the Mt. Lebanon police? Who gave Gene Huntington any sort of authority to call the police if no laws are being broken? Why is he using taxpayer resources for no good reason at all? Maybe we should call the police for being harassed by Gene Huntington.
Nick M.
Clover traps.. . folks these hideous killing contraptions. it have nothing to do with clover the plant but it was named after a man with the last name of Clover..
Thank you, 4:56 PM. I wasn't sure where Kelso ended and where Robb Hollow began. For all of the readers that grew up in the 60's here, it is up from where Walt's Tavern was and the now closed Mexican restaurant.
4:59 PM, I'm not sure which traps have gates and which ones don't.
Nick, I don't have details, just something I heard.
Elaine
Gene called the police last night also.
I did look at the Game Commission's website under "Clover Traps." They have a UTube video showing the trap with an explanation of how to use it. There are two things of note: First they state that "when you trap the deer, it will be in the cage overnight, and this is highly stressful to the deer. When you are checking cages, if a deer is inside, it is best to run to the cage, climb inside, and mask the deer's eyes so that the deer settles down." Another comment stated, "When you have successfully tagged the deer, nudge it to the front of the cage so that it can get back to the woods."
Note that these traps are used for tagging deer so that they may be tracked. Nowhere does it say that this should be used as a method of killing. THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THIS HORRIBLE THING IN MT. LEBANON MUST BE STOPPED!!!
I love this blog, but actions speak louder than words. I don't trust Brenner and his spies, so I don't want to reveal all of my ideas here, but we must do something soon.
Of course, it seems as though the deer are smarter than Brenner and they are not going into the traps, if the killing reports are to be believed. Maybe we are worried for nothing.
I just saw the Robb Hollow trap where some of Benner's guys are with their pick up truck right now. I saw two deer but they were several hundred yards from the corral. I think Benner's guy intend to try to kill some there tonight.
While there a young lady who is going to vet school next year asked me what all was going on... she said she didn't like it and was against it and usually hikes in Robb Hollow. I felt so bad like I was coexisting with evil but couldn't do anything about it.
Pennsylvania has really let me down in permitting this operation and for permitting unethical behavior in politicians and state employees to go unpunished.
Anyone with details/descriptions or pictures of Benner's vehicles, post em!
Get pictures of the clover traps if possible. We can point people from Benner's hometown to what the unethical Deacon and his crew are doing.
Hunters hate scumbags like this. Lower than poachers.
There is something so dispeccable that a neighbor (no...perhaps asshole would be be a better word) can call and get a police check on people that are just walking past (not in a no trespassing zone).
This deer situation has gone way beyond managing deer.
If our police have time to respond to such calls, it's time to start making cuts in the number of officers.
I'm quickly losing respect for our police dept.
Past the lower entrance Robb Hollow Park and there was a grey truck a couple of yerds inside the chained off area on the road facing the road so you could not see his license plate. There was a man just sitting in the truck. I am guessing one of Brenner's executioners. I wanted to confront him, but I was alone. Drove by 5 ties in 10 minutes and he was still there. Nobody at the upper gate, but the gate was secured so cars could not get in. I did take a stroll through the park on the upper level and saw a deer and evidence of more who must have been there.
8:24 The two greatest causes of unintentional death in Allegheny County are motor vehicle accidents (not deer involved) and drug overdoses. The drug overdoses are EPIDEMIC. Yes, EPIDEMIC.
See this website for further info and notice that MT LEBANON has this problem too (you can click on the map or zip code info and counts of deaths).
But noooo... our enlightened leaders spread fears of "wild animals" and "Lyme's Disease" and send our police to corn corrals. Distracting citizens to real problems that require real solutions... that's real FAKE leadership.
www.OverdoseFreePa.Pitt.edu
So that gray pick up driver has been sitting at the site for 3 hours. Must be a great job... guarding traps.
Those clowns are not using elevated stands. They are climbing into the loose plastic hanging from the fence along the road and shooting through the fence. Talk about lazy, drive right up to the trap, shoot and no dragging. Just hope the deer are smarter than that. That thing filled with straw is ridiculous. With the buds forming deer have better food sources now.
Hide your own trail cameras along their entrance roads to monitor their actions. It will be very interesting seeing what the final tally is. What a joke.
Just checked at 9:13 no one is there
Anyone get any good photos of the gates? They were supposed to be set off by cell phone, correct. Looks like they are manually released by the person waiting in the loose plastic room. There should be a mechanical arm of sorts to pull the trigger if automatic. Use those zoom lenses and get some better details!!!
You have till 9:00 to walk around outside the perimeters. Peak feeding time is an hour before dark. 10 dog walkers circling each site is enough hint, hint! Time to start a club!
Thank you to all who continue to condemn the killing pens and add comments to this blog.
I CHALLENGE EACH OF YOU TO, LEGALLY, VISIT ONE OF THE KILLING SITES.
Then, write to the Mt. Lebanon Commissioners pressing them to withdraw the contract with Wildlife Management.
I cannot begin to imagine the horror of being in that pen when the gate slams shut or thrashing in a clover net with wild fear.
If you want to get real about this issue, go for a walk...you will be forever changed.
I did.
9:20 looking at these new pictures, it appears that Benner's outfit ripped off the JagerPro hog traps with wire and fencing from the local Tractor Supply store.
The deer trapped inside must make one hell of a racket.
There are small, discrete audio recorders available at Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy and online that could be VERY EASILY left near corrals and treestands and picked up later to hear the ruckus. Get a voice activated one that only records noise. It should timestamp it too. Public area so no expectation of privacy should avoid PA recording laws, but check with a lawyer first (any want to chime in? Would the ACLU know?) One of the office stores had a couple from Olympus in their close out section for under $50. Useful for meetings too.
Imagine the sounds of a gate slamming, deer being shot, and so on being put on youtube!
Can also put our own game cameras out to keep an eye on equipment, Benner's goons using our parks as toilets and who knows what else!
4:35
You don't even know the half of it. Mt. Lebanon has turned the third largest park are into a mess. Since the municipality took over it has been over grown, used for an industrial leaf grinding facility and ignored by the community at large. They spend money to buy property to enlarge it but has been annexed by the public works for all of it's dirty little secrets.
4:56
Robb Hollow Road turns into Kelso road at the sharp bend. In fact the dirt road the corral is on is the never finished connection between Robb Hollow Road from Painters Run and Robb Hollow Road from Bower Hill Road.
Who the hell is Gene Huntington? and why is he an issue?
How do they consider Robb Hollow a park? All I see is woods.
Nick M.
Gene Huntington works for Merlin Benner. He is one of the new people approved by the Game Commission. He was seen at the golf course filling a bait station illegally before the amended permit.
Elaine
10:32 Robb Hollow is classified as a passive park, I believe. It also doubles, to the dismay of neighbors, as a site for composting and shredding leaves.
So there are two genuine passive park areas, a golf course, and 2 patches of trees being used as kill sites.
Clover trap video by the game commission, how peaceful and serene
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wob4CWTs7iY
Reality of deer in traps this size:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NRBBbzbBMM
Merlin Benner will probably like that video. He and his men are a disgrace to sportsmen everywhere.
Go back to Tioga County and do your out of season killing there, "Deacon". Take your hired poachers with you.
Nick M 5:01pm
The killers have called the police SEVERAL times on multiple people- they are scared- AND THEY SHOULD BE. His business is infamous and so is his name, he should pack up now and leave town with his measly $2000.
Mt. Lebo police are gestapo and disgusting, harassing law abiding citizens and private security detail for Benner. Disgusting.
Thanks 10:54. From your explanation I did a search for passive park and the difference between a passive park and an active park and I understand what you mean but according to some of the definitions of passive park I don't know if Robb Hollow qualifies even as that.
Nick M.
Thank you 11:13. I was wondering if the calls are legitimate and do agree with you about these folks being scared because they have so much invested in this project with little to show for it so far. I drove by the church next to Bird Park at 6:35 this evening and a Lebo cop looked as though he was blocking one of the entrances to the parking lot. He was parked about 5 feet from the sidewalk just sitting there.
Nick M.
In fairness to the corn police, they pretty much have to do what they are told. Same in most any department, especially if they have sights on moving up or making detective.
A lot of Chiefs are purely political animals. Military is like that above a certain O-grade. They do whatever makes them look good, and woe to any underling that questions them.
Sure, there are good cops and bad. Most of the ones I know are just trying to get their job done and go home safely at night.
Now if we see them clamoring for deer-proof vests, that opinion might change...
Page 7 of Benner's proposal/contract has a bio on Gene Huntington.
He's the guy that can do catch and transfer safely and humanely supposedly.
http://mtlebanon.org/DocumentCenter/View/10757
Keep posting comments about Wildlife Specialist and Benner's crew.
The more there are the more likely hits will appear for any other community googling these people.
Word of mouth or in the 21st century word of the Internet can be the best or worst advertising!
If Benner was hoping this never done corral & kill in Mt. Lebanon would be good for business, he made a big mistake I think.
11:26. Would not surprise me if the corn police were on double-secret alert for all the bad citizens who actually like deer.
Imagine how the Chief could please his commissioner masters by collaring some malcontent, possibly even carrying apples, in one of the forbidden zones!
I called the police on gene for parking in the church lot next to bird park which is trespassing. The police called me and said if I approach him again I could be charged with stalking and harassment. Instead of going to arrest him for trespassing.
Small grey truck. Toyota Tacoma plate is YWL9677. Don't bother confronting, I did that to tell him he was trespassing on private property and called the police. When they called me back it was to warn me of possible stalking and harassment charges. The police are way too invested in this.
Where are the raised platforms? I haven't seen ONE raised platform in all of the corral pics posted on this blog - not ONE!
Clover traps are typically used in residents back yards. Any mention of where these clover traps are authorized to be used? And how do they kill the deer in the clover traps? In the 2006/07/08 slaughter I believe they shot the clover trapped close range with pistols. So will they be using lethal weapons now in residents back yard w/o notice to the surrounding neighbors?
HSUS Clover Trap Letter
November 6, 2012
David Brumfield
Mt. Lebanon Commission
710 Washington Road
Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228
Dear Commissioner Brumfield and other Mt. Lebanon Commission Members;
I am writing on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States and its 638,000 members and constituents in Pennsylvania. The reason for this letter is to comment on a proposal to use clover traps to capture white-tailed deer and then shoot them at close range with a pistol.
While it may sound humane to live capture deer in this way and then euthanize them, the reality is quite different. First of all, deer are extremely stress-prone animals with a highly developed flight response. Once captured, deer tend to panic and "bounce off the walls" in response to being captured and restrained. Their fear level is compounded by the lack of visual barriers, which allows them to see oncoming threats but lack the capability to flee.
Trapped deer are especially prone to a syndrome called capture myopathy, which results from restraint-induced stress triggering a life-threatening physiological response. The outcome is a delayed death, even if the deer is released.
Any effort to safely and humanely kill deer captured in a clover-trap will be arduous and potentially dangerous. The stress levels of deer in a clover trap approached by humans can be huge. Some deer will lie down and try to become invisible, but others will repeatedly charge all the sides of the trap, making a lethal shot extremely difficult at best.
There are various protocols which can be used for capturing and killing deer in clover- traps, yet all have high potential for inhumane outcomes.
One scenario is that a person wrestles the deer to the ground, which, despite much experience handling and restraining wild animals, can lead to injury and extreme stress levels for the deer. Or a collapsible clover trap may be used, which means high stress and injury potential when the trap is collapsed on the deer, before it is restrained and shot in the head. Another scenario involves the deer being killed by gunshot, yet the shooter stands outside the trap. To do this properly, the trap must be located near an adequate natural backstop, which many properties don’t have. In addition, it can be extremely difficult to place a fatal shot at a panicked, quick-moving deer when the shooter is standing at a distance, outside the trap.
And of course pistols, like all firearms, are susceptible to ricochet and misfire, which raises additional humane and safety issues.
The potential for trap-induced injuries poses even more concerns: The clover trap’s trip wire can be an enormous hazard to a frightened deer (especially a buck). And there are many clover traps out there that are old, poorly designed, patched with wire or with holes big enough for a deer to entangle a leg, antler or sometimes a neck or head. Given that deer often enter traps at night, conditions requiring artificial lighting or flashlights may further impede a quick-kill.
In a perfect world, the deer would walk into the clover trap during the day, technicians would be in the trap within minutes and able to quickly grab and restrain the deer and get a perfect head shot. And yet, as any experience field biologist will tell you, this type of scenario is the exception rather than the rule when working with large prey species like white-tailed deer.
For all these reasons, the HSUS does not recommend the use of clover traps for live-capturing and euthanizing deer. This is also why we have chosen not to utilize clover traps in our own ongoing research projects which involve capturing and hand-vaccinating deer with PZP, a contraceptive vaccine.
The HSUS strongly urges the Mt. Lebanon Commission to take the clover trap proposal off the table and instead, carefully consider the issues and recommendations raised in our prior letter to the Commission of Nov 8th, 2011.
Sincerely,
Laura Simon
Wildlife Biologist
Connecticut Field Office
Humane Society of the United
12:57. So observing someone trespassing and calling police now results in the caller being threatened with harassment? Oh brother.
Hey Merlin, it's 4AM and we are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. When one goes to sleep others are awake. 24x7 until you take your junk traps and useless backside back to Tioga County, which to be perfectly honest, probably doesn't deserve you either.
Didn't the chuch deny their grounds for use by the Benner people?
So someone calls police to notify them that a culler is on the grounds and the police threaten them with harassment charges.
Hello, ACLU where are you?
RATS. I don't know if this belongs on this thread of comments or in a place of its own. There are RATS at the Bird Park Corral. The Allegheny County Health Department has been notified and an inspector will be dispatched to Bird Park. The Health Depth. Said its not surprised to hear this, given that the fermented corn has been there for a month or so. RATS. OH, YUCK.
8:40 AM--- The ACLU would not get involved with anything unless the person/organization who is being denied constitutional rights informs the ACLU.I don't know what type of constitutional rights are involved with this church lot. It's the church that must report the improper use to the cops, etc. Apparently, the church doesn't care.
Has anyone else seen rats at Bird Park? If so, call 412.350.4046 and ask for Sandra. That's the community environment branch of the Allegheny County Health Dept. I told her there were four other sites and she said that the rats will most likely find those sites, as well. I HATE RATS.
"The Allegheny County Health Department has been notified and an inspector will be dispatched to Bird Park."
Can it get any worse for Benner and his Specialists at this point?
I thought all the rats were on the Mt Lebo council and others visiting here from eastern PA
If the police do not have permission to be on the church lot, that's an obsure little law called trespassing. So the police would be breaking the law and subject to arrest and prosecution.
Further, they have no legitimate basis to request ID from people on public property unless and until there is illegal activity or suspicion thereof.
Thank you so much, 2:56 P.M. for making me laugh out loud (LOL)! I haven't had a good laugh since this horror started, but I just loved reading your final statement, "I HATE RATS." I'm still smiling!
I was one of three who took the Legal Tour yesterday, going to see a total of SIX killing locations. I would recommend it to everyone who is concerned about what is going on.
We NEVER knowingly went beyond poorly-marked perimeters, but that didn't avoid the encounter with the three snappily-dressed Mt. L. P.D. Officers who came to Bird Park at the request of Gene What's-his-face who claimed that we were "interfering" with him doing his work. Interfering? Really?!? By photographing his truck (perfectly legal); looking inside the cab to make sure there were no guns visible (perfectly legal); and walking through the park to see this "corral" for ourselves (perfectly legal)? Interfering? Seriously? Then we got to play 20-questions with the one officer while the other two watched (I guess for signs of guilt of something) before we got bored with the whole encounter and just continued our walk. It seems that someone (unknown to me and to everyone I know) has allegedly damaged the killing cage at Bird Park. Wouldn't you think the cameras would have gotten that? That is, if it had happened?
Anyway, I hope to heck that we do NOT have vandals out there taking matters into their own hands. We have managed to take and to hold the high ground through this entire dirty (dare I say slimy) business, and I would hate to see us give the Benner Boys ANYTHING they could use in trying to look like the victims here. The only victims are the innocent deer whose only mistake is that they live in such an exceptional community and the taxpayers who cannot be heard over the political ambitions of the "Gang of Four plus Feller" but get to pay for this senseless slaughter, nonetheless.
The Officer who "interrogated" us in the non-interrogation on the park path said it will be good when Benner has finished and we can all be happy again. I told him that NO ONE WILL BE HAPPY AT THE END OF THIS!
How sad for our once-peaceful, once exceptional little community...
6:40, did I read correctly, there were not one, not two, but three Mt. Lebanon police officers in Bird Park all at the same time? This is getting sillier every day that passes.
Nick M.
Yes, Nick M., there WERE THREE police officers. But that's O.K.; they only tied up TWO cruisers! And all this time I thought we didn't have any crime in Mt. L.! I'm just relieved to see that we've got the manpower to guard all of these killing cages. Anybody want to hazard a guess about the REAL cost (in cash, that is) to this train wreck?
Sad as this pointless waste of life and money is, the other costs, for which there is no calculation, are in the reputation of the community (now reduced to a laughing stock among our neighbors) AND in the deep scar left on the soul of the community (for which there may be no healing, ever).
Congratulations, "Gang of Four and Feller." You have created an expectancy among the elite gardeners in our town who will now and forevermore believe that they CAN AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO live in a deer-free bubble in a deer-filled state! Way to go, folks; they will NEVER feel the need to tend to their own gardens, now!
6:40, regarding the alleged damaged killing cage at Bird Park - from what you saw, is it possible that the alleged damage might have been caused by the terrified deer? Or maybe Benner himself, trying to shoot the deer who might have been thrashing about?
Only three officers, 6:40?
It seems three residents walking in a public park now constitutes a potentially inflamed riot situation.
Same as having an armed officer attended school board and commission meeting.
Does anyone ever remember a meeting in Lebo that turned into a situation where people were threatened or riots broke out?
This isn't Fergusion, except for a few catcalls and the audience getting a little frustrated, we are a pretty civil lot.
That could be changing though if our leaders stay on the course they're on.
And that's truly a shame if it happens.
I'm surprised they didn't call out the armored car on you.
Lebos, Please put an end to these awful traps. Take them down! There is nothing to be afraid off. Please read how this other cull was ended:
http://www.e-know.ca/news/vandalism-ends-deer-cull-cranbrook/
Do NOT mess with the traps.
Whoever keeps posting advice to do so, BUZZ OFF!
We are NOT going to be breaking laws. That is what Benner and the Commissioners are hoping for to extricate themselves from the mess they have created. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
Stop posting advice to do ANYTHING to the traps!
All of the Corrals have been relocated in Mt Lebanon today. Benner seemed upset. Yelling and throwing things. The Police and Game Commission was there. No one is being told where they are going.
I wonder if the commission has decided to kick Benner's butt out of town and the Public Misinformation Officer decided that the citizens don't need to know because the pro kill folks might get upset and throw their flowers at the corn police cars. Maybe we will know on Friday.
Hell yes he's upset. He looks like a total fool and now he has to visit the food bank for venison. The food bank and butcher are pissed also being promised 150 deer, getting all geared up to process them, and ending up with less than a dozen to date. The cops and Game Commission may have been escorting him out of town.
"Get your damn stupid hay filled corals and get the hell out of here" he was told.
Think he may have better luck trapping deer at the game preserve in South Park.
No. He moved them deeper in the woods. Turkey were going into the corrals and eating the corn. They caused an accident involving a motorcycle. Not deer. Turkeys.
All Corrals were packed up and relocated today. No one knows where they are. This is a safety issue.
11:14. Someone needs to find the name of the injured motorcyclist and the driver he ran into and forward them information on the deer debacle.
A lawsuit on top of everything might dissuade Benner and the Commissioners from repeating this fiasco.
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