030 @%!Geese

Canada Geese, Fly Away Home!

Dear Savvy Readers, today’s blog may not make some of you happy. It may even be controversial to some. BUT we have pests I want GONE!! While I am somewhat of a nature lover, quasi-environmentalist, preservationist in many respects, CANADA GEESE are driving me crazy. Leave our front field and fresh water lake, please. I have counted as many as 134 of these fowl (foul!) birds while I sit in my Jeep and blow my horn at them. Some take flight. Others just glare at me. I swear they are glaring!

Okay, I am ranting today. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013 there are more than 5 million breeding Canada Geese in North America. Most Canada Geese used to be migratory birds who went south for the winter. No more. Most have become resident birds -year round.


Even with hunting allowed, many of these foul fowls tend to live in settled areas where firearm restrictions apply. Oh, good!  Canada Geese are one of the few bird species that digest grass, so they like the large expanses of lawn in parks, yards, golf course, farm fields and airports. Another favorite site is native wetlands for which our lake is qualified.  

Aviation safety is a major concern. In 2013 there were 240 goose-aircraft collisions. One of the most noted was U.S. Airways flight that went down in the Hudson River in 2009. 

I also worry about public health. Goose droppings are major. Please excuse the somewhat offensive photo of the results of ONE (1) goose in our front field, but multiply this times the one count of 134 birds in the field. Picnic by the lake, anyone? According to a National Geographic article, 50 geese produce 2.5 TONS of excrement in a year!


We have talked to local animal control. Over the years, we have worked our way up to a very nice guy at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who suggested that I put on my hip waders and take a big can of Crisco out to the nesting areas in the wetlands of the lake area. Don gloves, I was told, and rub Crisco on the eggs so they do not hatch. After several seasons, the Canada Geese should begin looking for new gathering and nesting places. Yeah, right! And apparently, these very smart geese like to return to their place of birth as young adults. 

 Boomerang kids have nothing on these fowls. We have tried strobe lights by the lake to startle the geese away, big fake geese, and letting the some or all of the seven dogs on the farm run and bark at them. Again, I swear these geese just shrug and go on about their business. 

I have gotten some pleasure from gratuitous violence. I bought a paintball gun with water soluable pellets. I shoot at the geese!! However, while this alleves some stress on my part, it does NOT repel the geese. Noise does not bother them. I guess flying at airplanes has inured them to modern sounds – like propellers and jet engines. Vehicle horns surely don’t do any good.



And here are a few facts about Canada Geese that we don’t think about when we see a flock of them rise glorious in flight: The adult is BIG – up to 45 inches long with a 60 inch wingspan. Their weight varies from 11-20+ pounds. Their life span is 24 years. They molt in the summer months, losing ALL of their flight feathers! (That’s why we see them walking across roads instead of flying.) Mating begins at three years old. Each female goose lays four to seven eggs which hatch in 28 days. 

Now I have gotten off my soapbox, put my paintball gun away, and vented. If anyone knows any humane, low cost (removal is expensive and not guaranteed – prices begin at $3000 plus $5.95 per goose), effective way to tell these geese to fly away home, please let me know!

Glenne