People who have to tolerate geese on their property often compare these birds to locusts. When it comes to geese, their strength is in numbers and they rarely travel alone. Each bird consumes about 3 pounds of grass, producing about a pound of feces. Where does this leave your lawn? Bare, muddy and covered in goose poop—not a good look if you are serving customers. At Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control, we get a lot of calls requesting our Maryland goose repellent services to help with nuisance geese. If geese have taken over your property, here is what you need to know.
Resident Geese vs Migratory Geese
There are two types of Canada geese that have a potential to cause issues on private and public properties. Migratory Canada geese live in Canada during summer and then come over to the Mid-Atlantic region for the winter. The Chesapeake Bay offers the perfect habitat for these birds, considering the abundance of water and grass. Resident Canada geese stay here year round and don’t travel to Canada at all. They don’t live in the same area all year long, but they tend to return to places where they previously found good food and suitable conditions. Unfortunately, these areas typically include public parks, cemeteries, golf courses and other large grassy fields with a proximity to water. It’s important to note that both resident and migratory Canada geese are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918, which means you are not allowed to “take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter” them or their eggs and nests without a Federal permit. Even if you find Canada goose nests on your private property, you are not allowed to relocate it without a permit.
What to Do About Canada Geese
There are several lines of defense against Canada geese you could implement, from prevention and habitat modifications to repellents and reactive measures:
- “Don’t feed the geese,” – If your property is accessible by the general public who may think feeding geese is a good idea, post these signs. Geese become dependent on human food rather quickly and will keep hanging around as long as it’s available.
- Border collies, despite being known for their sheep herding skills, are also great at chasing geese away. And because in most urban environments geese don’t have a natural predator, dogs can pretend to play that role.
- Habitat modification: Geese don’t like tall grasses. If it’s acceptable to keep the grass on your property tall, it can be one of the ways to discourage geese.
- Goose Repellents: there are specially formulated goose repellents that can be sprayed on grass and won’t harm geese, pets, or humans. They will, however, cause an upset stomach in geese and make them declare your property uninhabitable.
Goose repellents can be used both as a reactive and a proactive measure. If you know your property is a goose magnet, treating it with a repellent on a regular schedule will give you peace of mind. Waking up one morning to your golf course torn up by geese can be devastating, which is what goose repellents aim to prevent. If you have a Canada goose problem, contact us today to discuss how our goose deterrent methods can help.