Problems Associated With Geese
Although Canadian birds are magnificent there are hundreds of thousands of geese in the USA and it becomes a real problem.
The problems you may experience are the following:
- Danger of attack these large birds are aggressive and territorial during nesting season
- Unsightly mess you can find their droppings on lawns, fields, in parks
- Disease risk geese droppings can carry harmful-to-humans infectious diseases
- Damage to crops
- Property devaluation.
Once, these large, loud birds are established, it becomes difficult to repel them from an area especially after nesting has begun. We suggest using preventative techniques before the goose problem gets started on your property.
What Keeps Canadian Geese Away
One of the best products you can use to keep geese away is a liquid goose repellent. These EPA-approved liquids deterrents use food grade ingredients such as grape seed extract to irritate geese. When the geese feed on the applied grass, they are driven away by the irritation associated with the spray.
Why Geese On Your Lawn Is A Problem
How cuteeeee said no one ever about geese. As much as we might encourage some types of bird to frequent our yards with feeders and baths, no one wants a flock of geese to make their yard their home from home. They can create LOTS of problems for both you and your lawn. So if you need reminding why you dont want a flock of resident geese at your property, here are a few reasons
- Very Noisy It wont be long before youre dreaming of total silence with all of that honking! Geese can be VERY loud.
- They Overgraze Canadian geese will completely abuse your lawn, eating the grass and overgraze, often causing soil erosion and creating bald patches. Youll constantly be reseeding or returfing to try and get your lawn looking anything near decent again, which gets expensive.
- Theyre Aggressive These are not cute little creatures they can be quite scary. Theyre known to be aggressive to humans if they feel the need to be.
- Create Lots of Waste If they gave prizes out for producers of bodily waste, geese would be right up there in contention. Their droppings are large, messy and absolutely stink.
About Tom Greene
I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the “lawn mower guru” , but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!
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What Attracts Geese To Your Yard
Its difficult solving a problem when you originally dont know the cause of the problem. Youre halfway to solving a problem when you know the cause of the problem.
The first crucial question is, what keeps attracting geese to your yard? Is it how tidied up the lawn is? What are you doing thats fueling these birds constant visit to your yard? Lets find out.
Is There Such A Thing As A Friendly Goose
Geese are typically friendly during the first two weeks of their lives. However, they become less familiar at around ten weeks old when they become territorial because it is mating season. To get rid of geese, you will need to remove the gooses food source.
Geese typically eat grasses and grains, so this should be done by changing your lawn to a less grassy type of lawn or removing all possible food sources.
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How To Keep Geese Out Of Your Yard
Whether you manage a residential, corporate or hospital property, Canada geese arelikely no stranger to your yard. These birds can be a big nuisance, showing aggressivebehavior, damaging your property and posing a variety of health risks to your tenants.Luckily, you have some options when it comes to keeping geese away.
Take Advantage Of Their Water Fondness
If you have ponds or lakes around your property, consider planting shrubs around them. Even if the plants are only two feet tall, theyll scare the geese away.
Geese enjoy being in a space where they can view every corner. So, being in the midst of shrubs would make them feel unsafe. They wouldnt know whether a predator has laid an ambush for them or not. So, the best thing for the birds would be to avoid the area.
So there you have it, the 15 clever ways to keep geese out of your yard. Some of the techniques highlighted in this post involve a little investment. But thats the least you can do to keep your lawn in top shape.
Geese can cause massive damage to a lawn. Their droppings also pose a severe health risk for your kids. So, do everything within your power to keep them at bay. You can deploy one or combine techniques listed here to accomplish that.
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Use An Ultrasonic Disruptor
This is a frequency that only bats and birds can hear and it drives them crazy.
You will not be able to hear it but installing it on your dock can drive the ducks and geese away.
It will emit frequencies that ducks and geese hate and they will never want to come back to your dock again.
They may be costly so do consider your budget before using this method.
Also, you should only use it as a last resort when you are out of other options.
How To Stop Geese From Pooping In Your Yard
Prevent geese from pooping in your yard by scaring them off with loud noises and bright, bird-repelling pinwheels. If you live in an area where using noise to scare off geese will upset your neighbors, you can put up a goose fence. Geese prefer to walk rather than fly short distances, so even a small fence can drastically reduce the number of geese that poop in your yard. Natural goose repellents can also be used to drive away these messy birds. You may want to consider getting outside help if dealing with geese known for their aggressive behavior. Canadian geese in particular are known for being vicious and somewhat dangerous.
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Don’t Give Them Shelter
Geese feel safe from predators where there are open sight lines, so they can see predators coming, and where they can easily escape onto open water.
- Use dense tall plantings along shorelines to make a barrier between the food and the water.
- Add variety to landscaping with clumps of taller plantings where predators could hide.
- Locate ball fields and other grassy expanses as far from open water as possible.
- Maintain or establish stands of trees between water and grass so geese can’t fly through.
How To Deter Geese From Your Lawn
Related Articles
Like other birds, geese spend some of their time relaxing or walking around on lawns or yards where they feel comfortable. If you live near a lake or pond, your yard may be an attractive place for species like the Canada goose to congregate. These geese are known for leaving behind droppings that are large and messy. Large groups of these fowl can quickly take over a land area where they are not welcome, becoming aggressive at times. Dealing with geese is a continual process deterring them from loitering may take some effort on your part each day at first until they finally get the message.
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Does Grape Kool Aid Keep Geese Away
ReJeX-iT is typically a successful repellent that has methyl anthranilate, which is an artificial flavoring used in grape bubble gum, grape popsicles, and grape Kool-Aid, that does not harm the geese, but they find it repulsive.Once they are fed, they will return looking for more food, often with more geese.
What Do Geese Hate The Most
You can get plastic geese that look dead, fake alligator heads and other decoys to keep geese away or frighten off the ones that are on your property. People have reported success with cutouts of images of coyotes and dogs. These are not exactly natural goose repellents, but they can work in the short-term.
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How To Keep Geese Away From Your Pond Lawn Yard And Property
Keeping a flock of geese away from a field or pond presents a unique set of challenges. Geese have a multitude of tendencies that cause them to group together and remain in one area, which we will go into detail later in the blog. But for now, lets focus on the solutions and the methods the pros have been using for years.
The following goose control methods are increasingly effective when paired together. A strategy that is common in the bird control world, especially for protected birds such as the Canada goose.
Nighttime Lights Interrupt Geese
Geese sleep at night and any lights that are intrusive and shining into the areas where they rest will most likely have them finding a different place to snooze. There are solar geese lighthouses that you can buy that will turn on at different times.
These are on taller posts than regular lawn solar lights and will shine a bright light into areas where geese are sleeping and disturb them.
You can use any type of light that will flash on and off into an area where you notice geese sleeping. This Hoont Solar Powered Motion Activated Pest Repeller will do the trick.
You will want to be careful of using lights and sonic repellers if you have other animals on your property, like pets or farm animals as they will also be sensitive to the sounds and lights. Using the tall light posts might be a better option for those who have pets or farm animals on their property.
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What Smell Do Geese Hate
Geese hate the smell of methyl anthranilate more than anything else. Methyl anthranilate is a chemical that naturally occurs in grape juice and is often used as an artificial grape flavoring.
- Methyl anthranilate is the scent that irritates geese the most.
- A repellent with methyl anthranilate will cause irritation of the eyes and throat in geese but wont affect pets or children
Grape flavor methyl anthranilate irritates a gooses eyes and throat while any other animal will just smell grape. This makes it an effective pet-safe deterrent. Simply spread this compound on your grass and the unpleasant smell should drive away geese soon. Spread extra near potential nesting sites to ensure no geese make a home on your property.
Youre Not Doing Enough To Chase Them Away
When geese walk into your yard, and you dont chase them away, then youre encouraging them to stop by more often.
However, if you make them feel unwelcomed, chances are they wont like to stop by your yard over time.
So, start chasing geese away, but ensure that you or whatever means youre using doesnt lead to the birds demise.
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How To Keep Ducks And Geese Off Your Dock
Ducks and geese are attracted to bodies of water so it is common to find them around docks.
They stay there to look for prey and rest.
However, this may prove to be a problem because they are a bit difficult to get rid of.
They can rest on your dock, start nesting there, and the next thing you know your dock is filled with these birds.
Nobody wants this and neither do you.
Of course, there are some measures you can take to keep ducks and geese off your dock.
And here I have listed down everything you need to know about it.
But before getting to the ways on how to keep these birds off, lets check what does attract them most to your dock
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Floating White Swan Decoy
Floating White Swan Decoy
The White Swan is a perfect addition. Use for decor or to deter Canada Geese more economically and without all the costs, hazards, and time required when spraying repellents. White Swans are very territorial, making it great to help keep geese away!
In nature, Mute swans aggressively protect their young from Canada Geese, making this swan an effective deterrent as part of an overall repellent strategy. Head and neck can be adjusted for a realistic look. This plastic decoy may be free floated, or secured in the water with string or decoy weights. It may also be secured on shore with two steel anchoring stakes . Decoy should be moved periodically to increase effectiveness and used with other deterrent methods.
White Swan Decoy will help deter Canada Geese from landing in your pond or water garden. In nature, White Swans are very territorial and will fight off most intruders who venture into their area. Geese will not want to confront an angry White Swan and most times will choose another body of water to land in.
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Tall Grass And Shrubs
Geese like short, lush, mowed grass. They need space to land and take off, and are also uncomfortable feeding in areas where their view of potential predators is poor. Allowing grass to grow to a height of a foot or more will reduce the attractiveness of the area to feeding geese. If geese are walking onto your lawn from a pond, let the vegetation along the shore of the pond grow tall, plant shrubbery, or create a stone barrier along the shoreline. Planting shrubs and small trees interspersed throughout a feeding area can be very effective.
Scare Them With Strobe Light
To deter Canadian geese, you can also use goose deterrent light. There are mainly two types of Canada goose repellents available in this category.
One of them is sound-activated, so it will keep geese away by scaring them whenever they come close to the device. The other option would be to leave a strobe light on for the duration of a whole night.
While it might seem like a nuisance if you place the goose deterrent light next to your home, if youre creative enough to cover the sides so that the light doesnt get into your house through your windows, it will get the job done properly.
As is the case with any other goose deterrent products, there is a considerable disadvantage to using this method, too, and it consists of the fact that it will attract a variety of bugs, such as mosquitoes and others.
Fortunately, some strobe lights currently available for sale are customizable, which means that you can set the amount of time they work for and the intervals at which they do it.
That will at least prevent your porch from getting flooded with an insect population for which youll have to find other repellents in the future.
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Net & Wire Deterrents
One final way of keeping geese away from your property is to use bird wiring or nets. Its quite simple and the professionals have been using this method for years. Simply lay down netting along the bank of the pong or lake.
Not only does this make landing difficult, but geese loath the sensation and irritation of the netting under their feet. Inexpensive 3/4 garden netting can be used for this specific purpose. Dont forget that it is important to use this method along with the others listed above.
Key Features & Benefits:
- Inexpensive and easy to deploy
- Prevents geese from entering and leaving ponds
- Does not harm geese
Remove All Food Sources
One of the reasons geese control can be very challenging is that these birds can be quite versatile when it comes to the things they eat.
They can munch on human food, which is why avoiding leaving your garbage out so that they cant consume it is the first step toward getting rid of them.
Geese food can consist of a range of things if they dont have anything available. Most will eat grass if they dont find any other food sources, and they are known to love legumes if thats what can be found on your property.
A good piece of advice to keep geese off lawn spaces is to avoid leaving your grass to get too long .
Also, you can vary between several species of grass from one year to the next whenever planting the new grass seed.
You can treat your grass with a repellent, a chemical such as Methyl-anthranilate, which makes the grass taste awful to birds.
If you have a pond on your property where geese tend to gather and you have people coming over, tell them to avoid feeding them, especially human food.
Not only is it not healthy for them , but they will also come back in search of more, making your efforts to get rid of geese useless.
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Bird Blinder Repellent Pinwheels Garden Pinwheels To Scare Geese Off Lawn
Moving shiny objects reflect light and scare birds away with constant blinking. The Bird Blinder Repellent PinWheels package contains eight items made of mylar tape. This set is perfect for small yards. Arrange the pinwheels in an open area free from bushes and trees for direct sunlight. In the wind, they shine brightly and rustle slightly, irritating geese vision and hearing.
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What Problems Do Geese Cause
At the moment, scientists know more than 60 diseases transmitted from birds to humans some of them are even fatal. That is why it is better to avoid contact with geese and the remains of their vital activity. Apart from health problems, you can get damaged property.
By trampling down the lawns, geese damage sports and golf fields. They can also leave up to 1 lb of droppings daily. It leaves stains and can even degrade building materials. It costs a lot of money to clean it up and cope with the consequences. A lot of geese feces in water bodies can also disrupt the local ecosystem.
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