In Michigan Canada goose season ends the end of this month. Federal law protects nests and eggs yet you can get a permit here to destroy them on your property.
The goose population around here has dropped as the mute swan population has exploded. The alien invaders kill geese and drive out trumpeters. You can also get a permit to kill mutes on your property, but people like swans so much that the DNR daren’t open a season for them.
Inside every swan lurks an ugly duckling.
I wouldn’t mind the Canada geese so much, 'cept for the proliferation of white turds they leave in coves where I like to launch from, and on beaches where kids swim.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7oHBbVZUwtHtHYt89
We use Flat Coated Retrievers. The geese pay attention to them. The young one is an over achiever she swims after them. (She has a good recall)
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@spiritboat - perfect solution and a good reminder that I need a dog (we’re shopping). My coonhound caught a turkey once and just bumped it with her nose like she did with squirrels, toads, deer, etc.
But I’m not bothered by the geese so much as someone dropping screaming/crackling M80’s right behind me when I’m paddling in cold water
@Bakerman - years ago our family black lab took off after a water skier in Lake Michigan (and eventually gave up). He was kind of strong-minded; he went through a neighbor’s front window one time to get at their yappy little dog.
@willowleaf - I paddle with a biologist that gets pretty upset about manicured lawns. I feel kind of sorry for him since it seems like an especially challenging crusade.
@RC51Mike - per your point about intelligence, I found one article that said geese learn that the cannons used to protect crops tell them where to find food.
@PinellasGardener - I’ve also noticed some environmental impact from our $2B senior PGA course, like 8 effin billion golf balls in my river. And, as part of the environment, I’ve had golf balls land within yards of me many times as well as having someone tee off while they are facing me from 100 feet away. The bird screamer/banger incident was probably the 5th or 6th time I was tempted to get out of the boat and throw a hissy fit. I’m not a fan of the entitlement mentality.
Overall I think it’s a bit insane to let anyone use pyrotechnics engineered for maximum annoyance in populated areas just to chase birds.
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One goose solution: My aunt lived on a creek. The geese would land on the water and, since she had a sea wall, would swim around the end and come through the marsh to the lawn. Aunt Hellen got some tomato stakes and a ball of heavy cotton string. She drove the stakes along the edge of the yard and ran the string, about 15" high, from the sea wall to her driveway, maybe 50 yards. The geese would not cross the string.
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Time to go snorkeling and retrieve those golf balls! Lots of people make a decent living selling them back to golfers.
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Tom ,great to hear you are dog shopping. I really didn’t want another dog but Honey really enjoys her rapidly growing step sister.
Honey doesn’t mind her ears being pulled.
Same attack position as my black lab; first roll over on your back and then growl, flash teeth, and bark. But rolling over was not part of the coonhound’s DNA.
I wonder if the animal shelter allows test paddles.
No kidding? Hmmm.
Yes, there’s a yoga studio where I put in on the Paw Paw and they also use a string at about that height to keep geese off their lawn. Nice, civilized approach.
Good idea that costs little and does no harm except some holes in the grass.
That said, that the geese don’t cross the line shows one of several things:
- They respect human laws about property rights. Ummmm…no.
- They’re not smart enough to realize the string can’t actually stop them from crossing.
- They’re smart enough to know they could cross, BUT
a) they won’t send an “expendible” flock member to the possible line of sacrifice
b) they’re arguing about which goose should be sacrificed
c) they believe a rumor that crossing the line signals the owner or a dog to attack
d) a flock member was traumatized by crossing another line—an electric fence line.
Here’s two articles. First one’s old but the principle hasn’t changed and the second one is current and has a potentially helpful link in it:
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Muscovy ducks… Also known as Chernobyl ducks due to their looks… Leave when the dogs chase them off, but they don’t learn. They come back and try again. They also deposit black waste… and sit in it. It doesn’t wash off well. So we rigged yard sprinklers hooked to motion detectors. They might be ducks but they don’t like sprinklers.
Motion detectors have a 4-6 months life span in Florida Sun.
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Ah yes, the sprinkler plus motion detector. At the yoga studio where I launch they use the string suspended between posts plus the fake coyote and also the sprinkler plus motion detector. I learned to go under/around the string and around the sprinkler but I am constantly glancing at the darn fake coyote; it makes me uncomfortable.
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