How Long Does It Really Take to Get Rid of Canada Geese?
When people call us, one of the first questions they ask is, “How fast can you get rid of our geese?” And trust us, we get it. A flock of Canada geese can be a nightmare for any business.
Here’s the answer: You’ll see results on the first day we visit, but lasting results take longer. Getting rid of Canada geese is a process, not a one-and-done service. Bird control is different than other kinds of pest control because Canada geese are a protected species. Legal geese control involves changing their behavior, not physical removal or extermination.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through a realistic timeline of how long it takes us to get rid of nuisance geese and why it takes so long to change geese behavior. Let’s start with the timeline:
A Realistic Bird Control Timeline
What to Expect on the First Day
On the first day, we’ll visit your property with our team of border collies. Our dogs will stalk your geese and successfully chase them away on day one. People are often surprised at how quickly the geese react when we bring our border collies to their property for the first time. The geese are scared right away because our dogs trigger an instinctive response. To a goose, our dogs seem like real predators. Our border collies are much more convincing than a predator decoy or a noise deterrent.
We’ll clear out your property on the first day, but this isn’t the finish line. Resident geese will usually fly back after a short time to see if our dogs are still there. If they’re not, they’ll move back in like nothing happened. This is why geese control isn’t a one-and-done service.
What to Expect in the First Few Weeks
Over the next few weeks, we’ll visit your property frequently to scare your geese away. This consistent pressure is the key. Geese may view the first day as a fluke. Maybe our border collies were just visiting. But when they see our dogs every week, they start to catch on. They learn that your property isn’t a safe place for them anymore. It takes time to convince the geese that our dogs are a permanent threat on your property. Every encounter with our dogs makes the geese less likely to come back.
In 1 Month
With consistent visits, we can get most goose populations to permanently relocate within a month or so. We can’t guarantee you’ll never see a goose ever again, but you’ll only see smaller groups of geese passing through. Your property won’t be home to a large flock anymore. At this point, we’ve taught your original goose population that your property isn’t a safe nesting ground. Our border collies are one of the best ways to control geese because the birds can never fully adapt to real predators.
The next big question is, will you need continued goose management services after this first month?
After 1 Month
After the first month, we usually recommend a lighter visiting schedule. You won’t need our dogs to visit as often, but it’s good to keep the geese on their toes. Canada geese are opportunistic wildlife. If our border collies disappear completely, the geese will eventually test your property again. Ongoing geese management services reinforce the threat to your original goose population and prevent new geese from settling.
Why It Takes So Long to Deter Geese
They’re protected
A lot of people don’t know that Canada geese are a protected species. This means we can’t just trap and remove them. Any legitimate wildlife service has to follow strict regulations. That’s why we focus on changing behavior instead of physically removing or exterminating the birds. Our border collies are a humane geese deterrent—they just create a “predator pressure” that encourages the geese to leave on their own. This approach works, but it takes repetition and patience.
They’re smart
People underestimate how smart Canada geese are. Geese have excellent pattern recognition skills. If a deterrent only shows up once a week and it always shows up at the same time, they learn when it’s safe to be on your property and when it isn’t. Our dogs introduce uncertainty. We visit regularly, but at different times so your geese don’t know when our collies will appear, only that they might. It takes time for your geese to accept that our border collies are a permanent threat on your land.
They don’t migrate as much as they used to
Canada geese don’t migrate as much as they used to. They’ll stay year-round if they have food, water, and an ideal nesting area. Golf courses, parks, office campuses, and other modern public places give them everything they need. Without active geese management, some birds will stay all year.
They like to return to the same nesting site every year
The Canada geese that do migrate like to settle in the same place every year. Once they find a good nesting site, they stick to it. Nesting success one year reinforces the idea that the site is safe for future years. Our border collies help prevent this reinforcement by disrupting their nesting early. But stopping one season of nesting doesn’t erase years of reinforcement. It often takes multiple seasons of consistent pressure before the geese give up on your property completely.
Contact Go Geese Go Today
We Can Help You Take Care of Nuisance Geese on Your Property
Contact us today if Canada geese are becoming a problem on your property. Our trained border collies offer a humane and effective way to deter geese. With the right plan, you can keep large, resident flocks of geese off your property. Call us today to learn more about our border collies and get a free estimate on our geese control services.