How Do I Keep Geese Away From My Pond?
The Problems Geese Cause
The chances are, if you’re reading this, you have a goose problem. Many residents in the Columbus, OH area experience geese control issues. You know that you need to rid your property of them. But do you know why? To fully understand the importance of geese control, it is important to know why they can be a nuisance. The main reasons are:
Overgrazing
Geese can easily overgraze and damage lawns or parks in the Columbus area. Reseeding or repairing the area is a costly solution and will not be permanent as the geese will return to graze on the new tender grass that sprouts.
Diseases
Geese can carry diseases with them. They can spread these diseases through feces, nasal discharge, or biting. It’s important to protect yourself and loved ones from these potential diseases.
Nuisances
It’s no secret that geese can be loud. When you have a flock of them near your Columbus home or business, it will be distracting and a nuisance.
Aggressiveness
Geese can be aggressive during the mating season any time they feel their young are in danger. If they nest near your home or business, you may be subject to these aggressive behaviors.
Research Geese Control Methods
The pond that you love may be the favorite spot of geese as well. How do you keep these geese away? When you search the term “how to get rid of geese”, you will find a load of information and products that may or may not be effective for your situation. One of the first steps is realizing is that geese have the intellect relative to a 5-year-old child. They are smart, can reason, and will come to recognize you personally. They will also quickly figure out the things that are a direct threat and the things that are harmless to them. We believe in permanent, non-harmful geese solutions.
The way that we have found to be most successful is using highly trained herding dogs that the geese believe are hunting them. Most other dogs that do not stalk and actively track their movements the birds soon will ignore and not find threatening. The same goes for fake swans, fake coyotes and spinning/flashy objects. They may mitigate the geese problem but they are not a good permanent solution.
Reduce the Need to Feed
One of the more impactful ways to keep geese away from your pond is to make the “food” bad. Because many geese will endlessly graze on your grass, it is important to address this issue. There are many grass applications available to you, but the most effective one that we recommend is Flight Control. The product is harmless to humans, dogs, and cats. When this is applied, gastric distress is experienced when eating your grass. This trains the geese that your food (your grass) is “bad”. Once you cut your grass, you must re-apply the application until you have trained those geese.
Take the Pond Away
Taking the pond away is the other most effective form of geese control. The geese consider your water their home and safe place. Once you have taken the pond away from them, they will be forced to live somewhere else. Start by stringing a wire grid over the pond, 8” above the water in one-foot squares. This will not allow the geese to land in the pond or walk in to the pond to swim. Your Mallards will have little issues with the wires because they are so much smaller and able to maneuver in smaller areas.
To learn more about geese control in the Columbus, OH area, contact us today.