How To Scare Geese Off Your Property
If you have Canada geese hanging around your property, you know how much of a nuisance they can be. Not only are these birds noisy, but they leave behind large droppings that can quickly make sidewalks and yards messy. Geese can also be aggressive as well as carry bacteria, creating a health hazard for your tenants, employees, or customers. Unfortunately, getting your site goose-free isn’t always easy. If you’re tired of having these birds on your lawn, try these tips for scaring geese off your property.
Why should you scare geese away?
While a goose or two may not seem so bad, large groups can cause big problems. If you notice these birds in your grass, scare them away. One goose can poop up two 2 lbs. per day. Consider the number of these birds on your site, and you can imagine how quickly your yard could become a mess. Goose droppings are not only unappealing to look at but also make it difficult for people to navigate sidewalks and grassy areas. These birds will damage your yard by ripping the grass out to eat. They are not just “trimming” the grass, they are destroying it.
It’s also a good idea to scare geese away because they can carry bacteria, viruses, and parasites, making it possible for them to spread diseases. A goose may carry bacteria like e-coli, pasteurella multocida, chlamydiosis, and salmonella, which can be shed through biting, feces, and nasal discharge. Parasites can be spread through contaminated water and may include toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidium, and giardia. Canada geese can also spread avian flu.
These birds are also a problem because they can become aggressive, especially during nesting season in the spring and warmer months as the goslings grow. This puts people at risk of injury and may put yourself at risk of being held liable.
Why these birds love your yard
What makes your site so appealing to geese in the first place? A goose loves land that has manicured lawns, food, water, places to nest, and no predators. Many commercial and residential properties have ponds for water runoff; these ponds combined with well-maintained yards create ideal habitats for these birds. These birds also like to nest on rooftops, against buildings, and in parking islands, so even urban properties can make great homes for these birds. When Canada geese find locations they like, they may return to the same nesting spot for up to 12 years. To help keep this from happening, scare away these birds when you see them and keep geese away from your yard.
How to scare birds with goose repellent
Ready to frighten geese and keep them from returning to your land? One do-it-yourself tactic is to buy goose repellent that comes in a liquid form and apply it to the grass after every cutting in key areas. You can also try installing decoys that look like predators but those are generally ineffective. Chasing the birds away in a golf cart and using a “Boom Cannon” may help.
Use liquid repellent
To make geese leave your site, try spraying a liquid goose repellent onto the grass. Repellent products placed near ponds, edges of buildings, or the lakefront repel geese because the products irritate the birds and cause the grass to taste nasty. The liquid is made with grape extract to create a flavor that these birds don’t like, which encourages them to stop eating the grass and move somewhere else. It should be noted, however, that grape-based products often aren’t as effective as you would like them to be.
Use a decoy that looks like a predator
Another way to frighten geese is to keep decoys planted in the grass. Be sure to use decoys that moves and resemble the predators of a goose, such as dogs or coyotes. You can also try using scarecrows, scare tape, or a decoy that looks like a goose that’s been killed. If you have a pond, try placing a swan decoy there. The goal with using decoys is to make geese feel unsafe and thus want to leave your site to find a safer habitat. However, these birds are intelligent and may learn to not be afraid of decoys after a short while.
Chase with a noisemaker
To scare and chase these unwelcome guests off of your yard, you can also use a device that makes loud noises geese don’t like to scare them away. One way to do this is to use a noisemaker such as a “Boom Cannon”. The loud noise will startle the birds and cause them to move off your land. You can also install an audio system that plays predator noises to make the area seem unsafe but these have also shown to be ineffective after a short while. Additionally, you can try using a motion-activated sprinkler. Although these birds enjoy swimming, they won’t like being sprayed by the sprinkler.
Use trained dogs to chase geese off your yard
While there are plenty of DIY solutions to help you rid your lawn of geese, they aren’t as effective as using dogs to chase the birds off of your property. Although any dog walking around your site may make these birds think twice about sticking around, trained dogs are even more effective. At Go Geese Go, our dogs are highly trained to herd the geese, making them think that a predator is stalking them. The goose population eventually learns to believe that your property is not safe for them, and they’ll stay away. While we can’t guarantee that you’ll never see a goose on your site again, we can significantly reduce the number of geese who stop by and make your site as goose free as possible.
Dogs are great for bird control
Hiring herding dogs to visit your property is a convenient and effective bird control method. Geese view dogs as predators; when the geese realize that your yard is inhabited by predators, they’ll move to another location and learn to avoid your yard. Go Geese Go will visit your site twice per day from mid-February through October so the geese are frequently chased off by the dogs and not allowed to live and breed there. Our dogs don’t touch or hurt the birds, making this goose control method a humane one. We also don’t transport the birds off of your land, they simply decide to go somewhere else.
Chase unwanted birds off your property
Not only are highly trained working dogs great for scaring geese off of your land, they’re also effective at chasing geese away from ponds. Sometimes, geese will move from your yard to a pond, thinking they’ll be safe there. That’s when we send in our dogs, who swim after the geese and cause them to fly away.
How to keep geese from staying in the first place
While you’re now equipped with strategies for scaring geese away, there are also steps you can take to help keep these birds from hanging around your property to begin with.
Don’t provide an ideal habitat
If you’re looking for a way to keep geese away from your property, make sure your site is not fit for geese. One way to do this is by removing the birds’ food source. Ask the people on your site, whether tenants, employees, or guests, to not feed the geese and do not allow bird feeders. If food is not readily available on your property, the birds won’t be as interested in staying. If you notice that geese tend to nest in the same spots, place a large, heavy item in those places so the geese can’t use them. Keep in mind to not mess with any nest that is currently occupied as a special state issued permit is necessary to touch or remove the nest.
If your lawn is typically kept short, try allowing the grass to grow longer, especially around the pond. This makes it more difficult for geese to travel between the pond and the lawn, making the habitat less than ideal. You can also create a wire grid or netting across the top of the pond to deter geese from landing there. Place wire across the pond at about 8 inches above the water and create a grid that has 12-inch squares. This grid will be too low and too small for a goose to enter the pond, but shouldn’t cause mallard ducks any issues.
You can also set up decoys and tape to make your site seem like a dangerous place for a goose, as well as apply repellents that the geese won’t want to eat.
About Go Geese Go
Go Geese Go has provided the Central Ohio area with goose control services since early 2000. Using trained herding dogs is a humane, convenient, and effective way to chase the geese off of your property. We have several border collies that we will bring to your site to herd the unwanted goose population. Border collies are excellent herders, as this breed was developed to herd sheep and other livestock. The dogs’ intense gaze, called a “herding eye”, makes geese feel like they’re being stalked. Over time, the geese will learn to believe our dogs inhabit your land and that it’s not safe to be there, causing them to relocate.
We will visit your site twice a day from mid-February through October. We serve a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial properties throughout the area, including offices, medical facilities, corporate campuses, industrial parks, parks, and more.
Contact us
When you need to evict your resident geese and keep new geese from moving in, you need Go Geese Go. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.