Canada Geese

[goeduck]

. (You do know there's a difference in "Canada Geese" and "Canadian Geese", right?)
.

We always called the geese we have Canadian Geese. A quick google shows up cackling geese and Canada geese. I am confused. :confused3:

 

[Blaszer]

So many experiences mentioned here that mirror my own. A nesting pair will drive all others off every year, but once the young have fledged and flown groups stop in at random to make their underwater messes. My problem is rarely them grazing on the lawn, it's recycling seaweed and thereby compounding creeping, unwanted pond fertility. Too many weeds are too easy to reach in 1 ac+ of 4 that's knee-deep. Get one of these and tie/toss it out like a duck decoy. Pull it in and move it every few days.

https://www.amazon.com/SPROTW-Float...t=&hvlocphy=9017065&hvtargid=pla-813059719345

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Alligator Head Decoy | Floating Alligator Head | The Pond Guy

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I have the Pond Guy gator with the glowing eye. It's not foolproof, but does save a lot of yelling and arm-waving.

I had two of these, worked for a little, but they learned there was no active threat

 

[Blaszer]

You really dont want this problem. We had 2 nesting pairs on our pond when we bought the place 10 years ago. Yesterday I counted 42 grazing around on the grass and crapping on everything. I have had my dog chase them but they just go into the water. I even tried shooting at them from a distance with a shotgun. When the shot hit the water, they just came closer thinking it was food hitting the water. I have to stand guard when I throw out corn for my chickens, guineas and peacock, otherwise the geese come up and eat it all.
I got my hunting license one year and killed about 14 of them and the killing scared some of them off for a while but they eventually came back. I guess it is time to kill off a few again at next hunting season. Otherwise they overrun the place.

Dang They didn't care about shots hitting the water? I usually have to unload 2-5 shells to get the geese to leave my pond, but they never went towards the impact spot.

 

[buck12]

The ones we have are also non-migratory and stay around all the time. They keep increasing their numbers every year by at least 12. With all the 40-50 geese we have, only two pairs nest here. My neighbor has a large pond also, but never more than 8-10 geese invade his area, they prefer my pond which has acres of grass bordering it on all sides.

That is interesting about the grass. Our 2.5 acre pond is clean around the edges. The poo machines come about mid morning and stay til late afternoon. I have no idea where they go at night.

 

[hayden]

You shoot a Canadian Goose out of season around here - you might as well have shot a Bald Eagle.

There are often state law exceptions for nuisance animals on your own property. It was in that context that I "removed" a few from my property. They have not come back. Chasing them off, spraying them with the hose, etc. had no lasting effect.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

They are a real problem in the Puget Sound area. Any place there is large plots of nice green cultivated grass, here they come. They are protected so only game department officials are allowed to reduce (decimate) the population. They catch them in traps then kill them in a chamber with CO2 gas. They tried to send the meat to the prisons. Guess what; the inmates refused to eat them. It works on the short term but the flocks seem to the same size the next year. When I worked for Navy Public Works they cost us a lot of extra money on our summer landscape contracts. The area is so attractive to them that now we have a huge resident population it is illegal to harm.

One enterprising investigative reporter made a study of how often they defecate. He followed a pair round for a whole day watching and counting. He determined they dropped on the average of 19 times per hour, their green grenades (the local definition for their defecate).

Ron

 

[goeduck]

^^^ so what is wrong with this picture. Game Department kills them because they are a nuisance, but yet they are protected :confused3:

 

[Tractor Seabee]

^^^ so what is wrong with this picture. Game Department kills them because they are a nuisance, but yet they are protected :confused3:

The Navy being a federal agency we used the federal fish and game folks. Anyone who can explain government rules and enforcements is smarter than I. Same as the wolf thing I guess. You kill one it is your butt but the government contract hunters are OK.

Ron

 

[Diggin It]

It's a numbers thing. A few specialists culling the population in a controlled manner vs. anyone, anywhere doing whatever they want, however they want. One way manages them, the other has the potential to make them extinct.

 

[Gem99ultra]

We always called the geese we have Canadian Geese. A quick google shows up cackling geese and Canada geese. I am confused. :confused3:

I too, routinely refer to both as "Canadian Geese", although I'm also routinely corrected by my SO. Canada geese have the same markings but have a slightly shorter, more blunt beak, and are generally smaller, than Canada geese, e.g. the Canadian drakes are about the size of Canada geese females.

No shame in calling both whichever you wish. 99.9% of the population do, and no-one will complain. Certainly not me.

Although we do enjoy a very small number of them, whether they're Canada geese or Canadian geese I personally don't know, I agree with the others that TOO MANY, are not welcome. Nor are year-round residents. We enjoy learning their habits and quirks, as we do with all other wildlife that we have around here. But they're not welcome to set up permanent residence... not unless they are willing to pay their share of the taxes.

 

[k0ua]

He followed a pair round for a whole day watching and counting. He determined they dropped on the average of 19 times per hour, their green grenades

Apparently "Tied up dogs" and "pet crows" can't hold a candle to "like poop through a goose".

it all sounds pretty crappy to me..

 

[goeduck]

I too, routinely refer to both as "Canadian Geese", although I'm also routinely corrected by my SO. Canada geese have the same markings but have a slightly shorter, more blunt beak, and are generally smaller, than Canada geese, e.g. the Canadian drakes are about the size of Canada geese females.

No shame in calling both whichever you wish. 99.9% of the population do, and no-one will complain. Certainly not me.

Although we do enjoy a very small number of them, whether they're Canada geese or Canadian geese I personally don't know, I agree with the others that TOO MANY, are not welcome. Nor are year-round residents. We enjoy learning their habits and quirks, as we do with all other wildlife that we have around here. But they're not welcome to set up permanent residence... not unless they are willing to pay their share of the taxes.

Interesting. This article says the name has changed over time to Canadian Geese as if there is one species. It has to be correct, it is on the Internet. Oh wait, this thread is on the Internet too :shocked:

languagehat.com : CANADIAN GEESE.

Canada Goose and Canadian Geese sound better than Canadian Goose and Canada Geese, I think I will go with that.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Ask to see their green card, and have them deported. Oh, maybe they already left their green cards all over your lawn....

 

[goeduck]

Once the government puts a species on the protected list, they start their fiefdom building and never want to scale it back. They look at Canadian Geese as job security. Go figure :mur: :mur:

Bald Eagles, the same thing. The fish and game guys tell me to stay away from the nest trees, I tell Barney Fife to get off my property. The eagles come down and watch me, they could care less. You see them in the big cities these days on lightposts above freeways even. Next time the fish and game guys come onto my property I will tell them to go to the big city and shut the freeway down because there is an eagle on a lightpost. Where I live on the saltwater at least they are part of the food chain. Thieves but they play a role.

 

[1010]

Wait till next spring when the geese are molting, dig a big hole,, put up some snow fence or temporary fence shaped like a funnel. Get some friends and herd the birds into the entrapment, you might need a boat helping as well.
Then, well,, you know..

This will be a temporary fix more then likely,, As new birds will replace them.. But it won't be as many..

 

[Gem99ultra]

Interesting. This article says the name has changed over time to Canadian Geese as if there is one species. It has to be correct, it is on the Internet. Oh wait, this thread is on the Internet too :shocked:

languagehat.com : CANADIAN GEESE.

Canada Goose and Canadian Geese sound better than Canadian Goose and Canada Geese, I think I will go with that.

WAY too funny I suppose we've proved one thing for sure - the internet only tells truth, and one can prove just about anything they want with internet confirmation. The one thing that I think we all agree upon is that 'Too many is TOO MANY'.

 

[Snobdds]

We have hundreds of thousands pass through Wyoming each year on their annual migration. A lot like to hang out at the golf courses and city ponds and lakes. It got so bad that the city bought a trained Australian Shepherd to chase away the birds. The dog goes to all the parks and golf courses each day and is trained to sneak up on them and chase them off. It works really well, until the next flock comes in, then the process repeats itself all over again. The routine happens twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall.

Those birds are messy, they can make a clean park a massive outhouse. However the birds that stay in the corn and soybean fields are welcome by the farmers, they lay good nitrogen all over.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Lots of comments about how nasty Canada geese are... They aren't by themselves on that.

I've found that Muscovy ducks and Mallards are just a big of a nuisance. The Muscovy's climb all over the flower beds, lay eggs all over the place, and never go back to sit on them. They poop everywhere, especially on the porch. And talk about ugly looking creatures that multiply like flies!

The Mallards do nothing but mate all day and all night. The females get as many as possible males to mate with them. I've seen them with a train of 9 or 10 males waiting in line. And when those are done, she'll go around teasing up another bunch of horny males. Geeze!

I suppose too many of anything gets on our nerves. But remember - we're the visitors here on earth, same as they are. BTW, we had 8 or 9 Canada geese drop in for an hour or so this morning. No idea as to where they came from or where they were going. They didn't stay long - just wanted to say hello.

 

[k0ua]

So a lot of screwing, egg laying and pooping... Sounds like normal behavior for a lot of creatures on this earth.

 

[goeduck]

Well, not all of them lay eggs. Screwing and pooping yes :rotfl: