How to Get Rid of Geese

geese

Figuring out how to get rid of geese can be tough. Geese are beautiful birds when they are not overpopulating your yard or business campus, leaving behind a foul mess of bird poop, feathers, and nesting materials.

The reason geese typically make your space their home is usually that there is a food source they enjoy dining on regularly, or the habitat around your area is fitting for their nesting and living needs.

Geese in general have aggressive personalities. If the bird feels threatened, in any way it may chase you while honking, and if it is able to get close enough to you, they are known to nip and bite, which is another reason why people are searching for methods on how to get rid of them.

However, one of those methods cannot be through killing unless you have a license or permit to hunt them. Hunting is only granted when there is an overpopulation of birds.

An organic way to get rid of geese

What exactly are geese?

Geese are web-footed birds with long necks that weigh between twenty and thirty pounds and can reach up to forty-three inches in length depending on the type. There are three true breeds of geese. Those geese breeds are the Anser, Grey Geese, and the domestic geese that live on farms.

The birds typically live on average for twenty-five years and have a diet that consists of grain, seeds, small reptiles, amphibians, insects, and sometimes fruits. Their habitat is generally around any body of water such as ponds and lakes where they are close enough to land for a mother goose to lay eggs during nesting season.

The way these birds find their mate and communicate with one another is by honking away. They also honk in hopes to scare off their predators, which are foxes, owls, raccoons, wolves and coyotes.

Keep geese from landing on your property (dock, wharf, yard, etc.)

What are some of the ways you can repel geese away?

Repelling geese away from a particular location if they are becoming overpopulated can be difficult since geese love going back home to their birthplace. If many geese were born in one particular location at the same time, each year the geese will go back to that same spot when warmer weather arrives.

After all, these birds are ones that migrate to warmer areas of the world when temperatures get cold and seasons start changing to autumn and winter. With that said, some of the methods that are known to help repel geese away are:

  • Setting up swan decoys since geese will not nest in the same spot as other birds.
  • Growing tall grasses and bushes around your ponds can help deter geese away.
  • Place netting around areas you desire to keep the geese away from.
  • Spraying methyl anthranilate around your lawn or golf course can help repel the birds away.
  • Place goose alarms around your property that will go off whenever it senses geese using motion sensor technology.
  • Place fencing around water areas of your landscape.
  • Leave signs that tell people not to feed the geese while near your home or business area.
  • Make sure all trash bags and cans are sealed up tight with lids to prevent geese from feasting and nesting due to food sources.
  • Get a herding dog that is trained to carefully herd the geese away such as a border collie.
  • Using loud horns to scare them away.

I want to get rid of geese with professional help.

Another way people prevent geese from invading their space is by finding the goose nest and physically removing it along with the eggs in it, but this is not recommended since geese do play a role in our ecosystem.

That role is to distribute seeds in other areas of the world near bodies of water to keep the aquatic plant life alive and thriving. One more reason why it is not wise to remove a goose nest is that it is cruel to take babies away from their mothers.

However, if you have domestic geese, which are for, laying purposes it is perfectly okay to use the eggs. Trying to take eggs from a wild geese nest might just cause you to be chased and bitten, which can then result in a hospital visit if the bite is severe enough.

If you must move the nest from your property for reasons of safety or simply not wanting the geese there, it is wise to call in fish and game to help do it properly.

Goose control tips for lake and pond geese problems

Bottom Line of Goose Removal

Again, killing geese and removing nests from your property to help rid them away is not usually an option unless it is hunting season or you are fetching eggs from a domestic goose nest. Otherwise, your options for repelling geese are the ones mentioned above, but if those ones do not work keep on doing research until you find ones that do.

Other methods that have been found useful are placing reflectors around your landscape, installing water sprinklers in lawns and gardens to spook the geese away, or spraying bobcat or fox urine around the space you wish to prevent them from invading. With that said, geese are in general harmless and beautiful birds to enjoy if they are not a problem for you.

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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