Getting Rid of Geese from Business Parks, Country Clubs and Large Green Spaces

 

 

Getting Rid of Geese from Business Parks, Country Clubs and Large Green Spaces

Goose Deterrents

 

Once migratory, Canada geese are now staying around urban campuses, golf courses, business parks and more locations they have determined are “easy living” spaces. Because these birds are messy and can be very aggressive to people and animals, this can cause real headaches for groundskeepers and maintenance people.  Their large droppings can create problems in ponds and reservoirs, and make a big mess on the grassy areas as well.  These problem birds prefer to nest near water where there is some protective cover from plantings so corporate lawns with their fountains, country clubs and the like have created a haven for them.

First, make sure everyone in the area knows NOT to feed the geese!

Start by modifying the habitat around the area.  Plant trees to interfere with lines of flight into the pond if possible. Also, Geese like a clear line of sight to the water to plant native shrubs between the water and the grassy areas if possible,  Also, look at installing large stones or cut steep banks to make the access between water and land more challenging for geese. You can also protect the land areas near ponds with fences at least 30 inches tall and solidly constructed.  This prevents the geese from walking onto the land from the water.  Whether it is fences, rocks or vegetation, they need to completely enclose the site to be effective.

Well-manicured lawns and areas that are newly seeded are heaven for geese. Wherever you can let grass or other vegetation grow to full height (10 to 14 inches), especially around bodies of water to make areas less attractive to these problem geese. This will discourage the geese to stop feeding in those areas.  Also, geese are less attracted to fescue, so planting that rather than a Kentucky bluegrass can help, along with other plant species like ivy, pachysandra and junipers that geese do not like much. 

Dog breeds such as border collies and other herding breeds can be trained to chase geese from golf courses, parks, athletic fields, airports, and corporate properties. This works best when the dog and their handler are on site daily (and ideally some evenings to roust the birds from their nesting area.  The dogs must be closely supervised and you need to check local leash laws and/or park regulations to make sure you are in compliance. For several weeks the geese ‘herding’ should happen several times a day.  After the initial few weeks, you should be able to drop down to less frequent ‘herding’ sessions each day to roust stragglers and new geese that try to take up residence.

 

Geese tend to land and take off from open water so if it is not too large a body of water and it’s not open to the public, you can construct a GridWire system over the water feature to prevent access. It’s not practical for water used for swimming, fishing or other recreation, but it works well for golf courses, corporate water features, wasterwater ponds and other areas the public does not access much. GridWire can be suspended in various horizontal and vertical patterns to deter large aquatic birds. Each wire should be secured so that it remains about 18 inches above the surface of the water and should have bright markers or Bird Scare Flash Tape attached to it so the geese don’t fly into the wires.

 

In addition to GridWire and corrective landscaping, use a combination of audio and visual bird scare deterrents to create a realistic predator threat.  Geese are smart birds so you will need to relocate the visual devices frequently and use several different kinds to create a ‘fear zone’ where they believe there are many predators in the area.  We recommend showing them a realistic predator decoy (or two if it is a large area) like the Coyote Predator Decoy Wildlife Deterrent, a menacing predator replica in an attack stance with a moving fur-tail giving it a lifelike presence.  Place one near the area where the birds exit the water and another near their nesting area.  Move them around a few times per week to make it seem like the predator is stalking prey.  Combine that with hanging several Bird Scare Eye Balloons with their huge predator eyes and flashing mylar tape which reflect sunlight in random patterns making the geese think they are under attack from all angles and some additional Bird Scare Flash Tape which will further elevate the ‘flash’ threat, and you will have created a nice fear zone.  Then add in special specific distress calls and predator attack sounds with a sophisticated noisemaker unit like the Bird Xpeller Pro Electronic Repeller sound unit and a few Dead Goose decoys, an agony-posture decoy goose (these should be moved frequently) which will convince the geese the predator has made fresh kills.  The Dead Goose Decoy Kit comes with two decoys (with anchors for water usage), bird scare eye balloons and other hanging predator decoys and bird scare flash tape as an all in one package. We also offer a X-treme Goose Problem kit for large problem areas https://birdsgottago.com/goose-guard-2-dead-geese-chord-anchors.html

There is another effective device that works at night to disrupt the sleep of the geese.  Away with Geese is designed to easily rid private lawns, fields and gardens of unwanted geese, taking only seconds to install and easily moved, if so desired. It features an amber 360-degree solar-powered LED light that flashes discretely every two seconds, from dusk to dawn, year-round. The light is scarcely noticeable to humans, but is very disruptive to the sleep of the geese because it is directly at their eye level, and is annoying to their very sensitive eyesight. Geese like to sleep in places that feel safe, but the light causes them to no longer feel secure at night. Because geese prefer to sleep and eat in the same area, they will no longer find this area attractive during the day either, and will leave to find another habitat usually after just a few restless nights. To humans, this light is very dim.  The light is mounted on a cylindrical base of highly durable ABS plastic and it mounts easily into the ground.  There is also a Water-based Away With Geese model for an additional deterrent in the water line.

Finally, Bird Free Optical Repellent Gel dishes could be an effective option to repel the geese from certain areas. This Optical Repellent Gel consists of multi-sensory components (visual, olfactory, taste, and touch sense) and all of these biological components work simultaneously to create an illusion of flames because of the birds’ ability to see in the ultraviolet light zone plus the smell of peppermint (which they hate). 
Set up a line of these where the geese are nesting and as the geese approach the site their path and pattern will be altered because they think they are being confronted with a wall of fire. The preloaded gel dishes are low profile, highly resistant to extreme temperatures, will not drip and can be secured almost anywhere to deter the birds.

If you have problems with geese and are unsure which would be the best bird deterrents to use for your situation, feel free to call us at 855-741-3222 or email us at mark@birdsgottago.com. We can assist you with determining the right product(s) to order and/or recommend an expert local installer if your maintenance team needs on site guidance.