[Dollar Spot]

How do you handle getting rid of geese on any of public or business sites you maintain?

I went to a seminar hosted by the ODNR and they covered the same old stuff. I'm looking for something new and a little different to try.

[VoodooChile]

There is a big push in Wisconsin-- the land of 10,001 lakes-- to create shore-yard buffer plantings. Such a planting is a mix of woody and herbaceous plants that buffers the flow of fertilizer run-off into lakes, provides habitat for critters, and anchors soil to prevent erosion from wave action, ice heaves and heavy rains.

When they mature, such plantings typically block lines of sight to the water for fowl like geese, and geese tend to avoid land where there is no direct line of escape to open water from predators.

It's not 100% but I have heard lots of anecdotal evidence from lake-front homeowners that buffer plantings have reduced or eliminated their geese problem.

The drawback of course is that such plantings, depending on design, can also eliminate lines of sight to the water for humans as well, and limit the amount of available lakefront for recreation. In my county, the zoning ordinances mandate that at any new construction site within 1000 foot of the lake, 70% of the lakefront be planted in buffer, with 30% set aside for lines of sight and recreation.

In Wisconsin at least, the uninterrupted expanse of lawn leading down to the water's edge is a relic of the past, slowly being legislated out of existence...a good thing, imho.

[Dollar Spot]

I'm a superintendent and we use buffer zones in some areas as well but they don't seem to stop the geese. We have greens right at the edge of lakes as well as fairways. I have tried perimeter wires and the geese just jump over it along with the golfers tearing it up.

[GLAN]

I know a guy that does commercial maintenance and some of those accounts have very large turf areas.....

He used to use some repellent, I remember correctly it was sprayed............Did work..........didn't last long. It was deamed by him and the property owners not cost effective....unless budget is no problem.

I also read some where about a guy that owns 3 or 4 dogs, bird dogs......He was hired to go around with the dogs from location to location.....let the dogs run and scatter the birds. Come back later in the day, next day or even 2 days later.....The outcome of this was.....disturbing the birds enough that it broke their routine.

Do that.......break their routine and you have a chance.

[Dollar Spot]

I'm looking into using a product called FlightControl Plus that you spray on the turf. The price tag seems high to me, about 260.00 per acre not including application costs.

I have a lab and she just chases them around the lake and then into the lake where she swims after them. I'm afraid she going to drown from swimming after those geese. She's in the water a long time and it's like they just tease her to come get them.

You could not believe the damage they can do to a green, not to mention trying to put through goose droppings

[GLAN]

I can just picture your Lab right now......Oh what fun she is having.

Well. I guess you could use the one dog.....but you would have to put a colar on her........one of those hunting colars

Flight control was the product my friend used.

What does make sense..........break the birds of thier habit, they will find some where else to go to.

Just might have to expand your budget extensively for a year and give it a go with the spray..........the spray does not last long....repeat and repeat application is needed.

Other thing I was thinking.........what about a starter pistol?

[Dollar Spot]

They make a gun to shoot bangers and whistlers that reach out about 100-125' to harass them but you have a lot of time chasing them around 120 acres.

I like the chemical treatment idea but if I isolate specific areas I'm worried they'll just move to another green that hasn't been sprayed. We're a small 18 hole public course with a small budget so I have to squeeze every penny.

[agla]

The Patriots practice field next to Gillette Stadium has a couple of very odd things in it. Coyotes stuffeb by a taxidermist. I looked over and saw what I thought were two real live coyotes as I was entering the stadium (along with 68,000 of my closest friends) right after Christmas. Then I noticed that one had a santa hat on.

The only explanation that I can come up with is that they are there to keep either geese or gulls from "fowling" the field. There were no birds on that field.

[dan deutekom]

The municipality that I work for uses a trained dog to chase the geese out of the public park area. "Max" has a great time but he knows that it is his job to chase the geese when his the park superintendent puts on the "City" uniform on the dog.

[HardDaysKnight]

Plastic owls are sold for scaring away waterfowl and
pigeons, etc.. Give this link a gander. I sold and
installed them on a restaurants roof that had pigeons and
it worked like a charm.
http://www.biconet.com/critter/prowlerOwl.html

[Dollar Spot]

The one thing I learned about dogs from the ODNR is that if they accidentily damage the nest and you don't have a nest permit you will be in trouble (if it's reported). How do you keep a dog from going after them on the nest? My lab would chase them till she died.

The owl idea isn't bad, but I would have to find the right location on a two acre lake to put it and maybe move it occasionlly. Coyotes are one of the main predators of geese around here, but i've never seen a plastic coyote for sale.

[Mark Oomkes]

Flight Control works great, but does have limitations. Longevity being one of them. Depends on watering habits and rainfall. I didn't think it was that expensive, but it's been awhile since we applied it.

Really what you want to do is break their habit of landing\grazing there. If you can do that with a couple applications--if needed--you shouldn't need to constantly followup.

IIRC, it works 2 ways. It changes the IR or UV color of the grass to a color that doesn't appeal to the geese and it doesn't taste good.

We have used it several times and always had good luck with it.

[HardDaysKnight]

Originally posted by Dollar Spot


The owl idea isn't bad, but I would have to find the right location on a two acre lake to put it and maybe move it occasionlly. Coyotes are one of the main predators of geese around here, but i've never seen a plastic coyote for sale.

You would have to get several of them, not just one.
And yes, move it occasionlly.

[HardDaysKnight]

These are on ebay also. Good Luck!

http://www.bird-x.com/products/coyote.html

[GLAN]

Dog would have to be trained to be totaly responsive to commands

What you would have to try is a hunting colar to get the dogs attention.......It is a shock colar......I have one from my first german short hair......Great dog.....great bird dog.....very independent minded and bit stubborn......that is why i got the colar.........BTW........i don't hunt.......I used the colar when I had him out front of the house playing frisbee or ball.........and when I would take him to places of large turf areas to play frisbee......sometimes he'd catch a smell of something and Zoom.....