Goose nest

[Dozernut]

I have a question for you knowledgeable TBNers. We have a pair of Canadian geese nesting on our pond. The problem is that they have built their nest about a foot above the water line. The pond is still filling up and will come up about 3-4 feet to reach the full level. With spring rains coming the water is going to drown out the nest. The question is, can we move the nest and eggs incrementally to get it above flood stage without them abandoning the nest? If the sun comes out I will try to get a picture of the geese and their nest. Thanks, I know it is trivial, but my wife has adopted them and is quite concerned.

 

[DaveNH]

Hey, how do you know they're from Canada? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Nesting

 

[MossRoad]

I'd let nature take its course. Weeds out the weak and not so bright animals. As for geese around here, they are a nuisance. They never leave all winter and poop all over everything. There are thousands of them. Some people have reverting to renting swans for the season to get rid of them from their ponds.

 

[Dozernut]

I know that they can become pests and I should let nature take its course. But convincing my wife of this is a different matter. We built a large pond, 3 1/4 acres, and it is like Grand Central Station for wildlife. We have geese, ducks, cranes, deer, turkeys, doves, just to name a few of the animals that regularly visit a pond that has not yet finished filling up. I don't mind sharing it with the critters as long as they do not become too numerous and reach the pest stage. I hunt but that does not mean that I don't have compassion for a helpless animal. I probably do more for the wildlife than ten of those PETA members do in a lifetime. I don't see them feeding or building shelters or rescuing a silly goose nest.

 

[MossRoad]

I understand about having compassion for animals, however, it is only to a point. If I see one that is sick or wounded, I'll make sure it is taken care of, or put out of its suffering. And if it was a theatened species, I'd make the effort to secure the nest. The goose population won't suffer if the eggs don't hatch, but that is completely up to you. Will the geese even let you get close enough to the nest to do anything, and if you do get to the nest, will the geese come back to it once you put it on some type of floating platform or riser? Would be interesting to see. Geese seem to hatch pretty quickly. Maybe they'll beat the rising waters without any intervention.

 

[Dozernut]

The written word is terrible, no inflection or tonal qualities. I did not mean it to come off the wrong way. Evidently It did, so I appologize If I offended you. My question was if the nest could be moved without abandonment. We moved the nest this evening with no trouble, the geese were gone for the time. The hen is still laying and there were three eggs in the nest. If she had been setting we would not have been able to get close. My wife said she would incubate the eggs if they are abandoned. Geese have a 31 day incubation period.
The geese are not a problem and we like watching them. I know they are a problem in the northern part of the state. When I was assigned to Chicago (which like to have killed me), the geese were a problem. Those people playing golf did not like goose manure in their cleats. The Snow geese have grown to such epic numbers that the Dept. of Conservation has removed bag limits on them. We do not have that problem and can still enjoy them.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If I remember right, duck and geese eggs hatch in about thirty days, maybe they'll hatch before it's an issue. I researched this because I had a muskovy duck that wanted a nest in the worst way, but she kept laying in inappropriate places.

I put her in a cage with the drake for about a week and then watched as she lay a clutch of about twelve eggs, which she laid on to the point of being obsessive. Finally after forty five days I gave up and reached in to pull her out and let her loose. She rewarded me with a thick stream of putrid poop that hit me in the forehead. I have since lost my desire to own ducks or any other long necked fowl.

 

[MossRoad]

I didn't read anything offensive in your writing. If anything, I jumped in with my opinion on geese and not the answer to your original question. Soo... my apologies to you /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

So the goose didn't seem to notice that you moved the nest?

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> calls them flying rats </font>

We reserve that name for seagulls and pigeons...

When I was a kid in the 60's we never saw:
Geese
Swans
Seagulls
Hawks
Crows
Perigrene Falcons
Doves
Sparrows
Turkeys
Sandhill Cranes
Wood Ducks
Great Blue Herrons

to name a few. Now all are fairly common around here. We even have some osprey at the local State Park and an eagle or two has been spotted. Times are changing.

 

[Dozernut]

The same here about the abundance of wildlife. I have been seeing Bobcats in the area. We have not had those around here for decades. The DDT the farmers use to use on their fields just about done in the raptor type birds. We see eagles occasionally, there is a fairly good population in this area, espeacially around the Wabash river.
When I was a kid there was a man who had several White Tail deer that he kept in a 12' fence enclosure. People would drive from miles around to look at these deer. The times have changed, they claim we have more wildlife now than there was in 1900. We have Pilated woodpeckers in our woods, they are something to watch. They came close to extinction but are now rebounding.
I have not checked the nest but the geese are still hanging around. I will wait until I have some backup /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. They are nesting on the big island and it is hard to row a boat when being flogged by a goose. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Dozernut]

MossRoad
Well we didn't run the geese off. She simply rolled the eggs back into the old nest and laid a fourth egg with them. She won, the wife is going to let her be. My wife said she will keep an eye on the water and if it looks like the nest will get under water she will intervene. I don't know who is more trouble, the wife or the geese! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Got some seat time on the Kubota today. Sure was a pretty day! I was sitting on the back porch taking a break and listening to the turkeys calling. Must have been 15-20 birds in the flock. They usually roost in the bottom land behind the house, sometimes as close as 50 yards, but not often. It gets pretty noisy around here at times with the geese, turkeys, coyotes and other critters hollering at one time or another.