It can be really annoying to have geese hanging out around your dock all the time. This can be a bit of a nuisance for several different reasons.
You might wind up finding that geese are defecating all over your deck, and this makes you have to clean it up far more often than is ideal. Also, the noises that geese make can be irritating enough to make you want them to stay away from your property.
What can you do to keep geese off of your dock, though? There are actually a good few ideas that you could try out that might do the trick.
Read on to get detailed information about how to keep geese off of your dock. You can try to combine several of these tips if you would like to, but sometimes just using one or two will be enough to do the trick.
1 – Try to Use Decoys
Decoys can actually be a very useful thing to utilize when you’re trying to keep geese off of your dock. You see, there are many predators that geese know they need to avoid, and you can use this to your advantage.
There are decoys that you can buy and place around your dock that will make it less likely that geese will want to stop there. Alligator decoys are among the most common and popular types of decoys that people use for geese.
Most of the alligator decoys that you find on the market are actually just decoy alligator heads, and they work very well to scare geese away. Another option that you can try out is to get a decoy that looks like a dead goose.
The dead goose decoy tells the geese flying by that your dock isn’t a safe place for them to stop. This can work to keep geese away from the dock for a certain amount of time.
The only real downside to this idea is that the geese will get used to the decoys over time. You might wind up having geese on your dock anyway because the geese in the area learned that the decoys weren’t real threats.
Even so, this has worked well for people who need to scare off geese for short periods of time. You can also combine this with other methods to keep geese from wanting to come to the area where your dock is located.
2 – Loud Noises
Loud noises do a very good job of scaring geese away, and you can use this to try to keep geese them from your dock if you want to. There are all sorts of loud noises that will scare geese, and they’re generally going to feel threatened if loud noises are sounding off near your dock.
It might not always be practical to do this, but you could put some type of noise generator near your dock to try to keep geese away from it. The noise generator could play music or just make sounds that will scare them.
The type of noise doesn’t really matter so much, but it does need to be somewhat loud. This is also something that makes this idea a bit less practical for those who have docks near populated areas because you don’t want to disturb your neighbors.
Regardless, this is an idea that can work to keep geese from wanting to come near your dock. If your dock is noisy, they might just choose some other place and steer clear of your property.
3 – Bird Wiring and Nets
Some people have chosen to make their docks harder for geese to utilize by placing bird wiring or nets on the docks. The basic idea behind this is that wiring and netting are going to make it a lot tougher for geese to be able to land and walk around.
Geese are smart enough to know when they aren’t going to have a clear path to land, and they will be able to tell that they will get stuck in a net if they try to land on your dock. This alone could be more than enough to keep them from wanting to try to stop there.
Lots of people have found success by using this method, but it isn’t without its flaws. It makes it kind of tough for you to use your dock easily since you’ll need to remove bird wiring and nets so that you can access the dock without tripping.
It isn’t that inconvenient, though, and it does a great job of keeping geese from wanting to come to your dock while you aren’t using it. You’ll just have to get used to setting things up like this when you aren’t using the dock so that you can prevent geese from making it all dirty.
4 – Liquid Goose Repellent
Liquid goose repellent is a product that you can buy from various retailers that will keep geese from wanting to stop by. This is a simple liquid that contains ingredients that geese hate, and it’ll make them want to stay far away from your dock so that you can just use it peacefully.
Overall, this is going to be one of the best solutions when you want to get your goose problem taken care of fast. It’s pretty easy to apply this liquid goose repellent to your dock, and you should be able to get good results.
As you might expect, the repellent isn’t going to last forever, and you could have issues with getting it to stay on the dock if you have waves splashing your dock regularly. The practicality of using liquid repellent on a dock largely depends on how it’s set up and the type of water that it’s sitting on.
Even under perfect circumstances, the liquid goose repellent is going to need to be reapplied to the dock over time. This might get somewhat costly, and that could mean that this isn’t the perfect option for most people who want to keep geese at bay for long periods of time.
5 – Place Reflective Objects on the Dock
Finally, you might want to try to place some reflective objects on your dock so that the geese in the area will be scared away. These will confuse and scare the geese so that they will not want to land on your dock at all.
One of the most popular reflective objects to utilize will be mylar streamers. Just hang those around your dock so that you can do a good job of scaring the geese away.
There are also specific products on the market that are reflective and have been designed to scare geese. You could look into buying things like that if you want, but simple mylar streamers will do the trick just as well in all honesty.
You should be able to easily hang quite a few reflective objects on or near the dock area to keep geese from coming around. It’s pretty easy to do this, and it’s going to be one of the more cost-effective options that are available to you.
6 – Bushes and Tall Grass
It’s also worth noting that geese are going to be very wary of landing near places that have bushes and tall grass. If you let the grass near your dock grow a bit taller than normal, that might help to keep geese from wanting to go near there.
Bushes can also act as an effective deterrent because geese see them as potential spots where danger could be lurking. This is basically because geese have many natural predators and they know that predators will hide in tall grass or bushes so that they can snatch them up at an opportune moment.
You could try to plant some bushes on the land near the dock to see if that will help to make it less attractive for geese. Overall, this is certainly worth trying since it’s easy to accomplish, and it might even add a bit of aesthetic appeal to the area.
It’s more than likely going to be a good idea to combine this tip for scaring geese away with some of the other advice. Just having grass that is a bit taller and a few bushes might not be quite enough, but it could make a difference.
Say Goodbye to Your Goose Problems
Now that you know a lot more about geese and what they’re afraid of, it’s going to be simpler to keep them away from your dock. Trying out several of the tips above should make it so that you can keep them from coming around in the future.
Sometimes it’s going to be a good idea to change up your strategy so that the geese never figure out that you’re playing tricks. Moving the position of any decoys that you place every so often is recommended, and you can also move the position of any reflective objects around.
It’ll be nice not to have to deal with geese defecating on your dock any longer. You can enjoy a more peaceful dock that will be perfect for your needs.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel