Owning a home comes with a lot of responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities, however, derive from the way that we want the property to look. After all, keeping your yard the way that you want it to look takes some work to achieve.
That is why letting geese poop in the yard can be such a frustrating thing. Despite all that hard work put into the yard, these loud, messy birds come in to mess it up. This facilitates the need to keep those pesky birds away for good.
So how can you keep geese from pooping in your yard?
Scaring the Geese Away
Geese are simply looking for water and food. The more your property offers, the more attractive it is to those geese. And if you have a pond, that’s just an extra point of attraction for the geese.
By understanding these two things, it can be relatively easy to get rid of the geese in a completely humane manner.
The first thing that you should do is take away the food options. If you have any wildlife or bird feeders on your property, that is likely going to be a big flashing sign to the geese that they are welcome on your property.
Stop this for a season or so to let the geese know that there is no longer food available to them. The geese will initially return but as they realize that there is no more food in the area, they will eventually find other sources of food.
There are also grass treatments and goose repellents that can be used. Apply them each time that you cut the grass in order to keep the goose from returning to your yard.
It is important to note that most of the grape-based products out there are not effective when it comes to keeping the geese away.
Of course, you can also make your own goose repellent. All you need is a laundry detergent bottle, some rocks, and a rope. Fill the bottle with the rocks and then tie a rope around it.
As the geese are walking around your yard, just walk towards them shaking the bottle. The noise is meant to scare the geese away.
The good thing about this method is that they will then begin to associate that noise and fear with the laundry detergent bottle. So if they come back, you can just grab the empty laundry detergent and toss it towards them.
This should be enough to scare them away again. It should also go without saying that you do not want to actually hit the geese with the empty detergent bottle.
There is probably nothing better than a predator. If you have a dog (not a small dog, mind you), that can be the best natural deterrent for geese that there is.
Dogs are natural predators for the geese and once the geese understand that the dog isn’t going anywhere, they will likely find a new hangout.
With a dog, the key is persistence. Bring your dog out near the affected areas so that the geese can see and hear it. They may cautiously come back a few more times but once they realize that the dog isn’t going anywhere, they will be naturally inclined to find a new spot to hang out.
In order to prevent geese from nesting on your property, you will need to go to their nesting site. When you find out where that is, place a heavy object there so that the geese cannot move it.
If they are still hanging around the nesting site, use the laundry bottle trick to scare them away.
Keep in mind that if the geese succeed in laying an egg, you may have to call your state’s wildlife commission. It depends on your state, so know the ordinances.
Getting Rid of Geese If You Have a Pond
Having a pond on the property can make it more difficult to get rid of those geese, even if it’s just one lonely goose on the property. Still, there are steps to be taken to get rid of them so hope is not lost.
The laundry detergent bottle can be a useful tactic here. Use that homemade shaker to make as much noise as you can, throwing the bottle out into the pond as far as you possibly can whenever you see them on the pond.
Even if you don’t fully scare them away, you become an annoyance at worst. Doing this enough can make them want to leave on their own.
The downside here is that you have to get those detergent bottles out of the lake at some point and that can be somewhat of a hassle.
If the goose problem is really bothering you, there is the option of gridding your pond if you have a smaller pond. To do this, you will want to run wire all the way across the pond.
They will need to be in 12-inch checkers and should be about 8 inches or so off of the surface of the water.
The grid squares will be too low and too small for the geese to be able to walk or land in. It is also safe for mallard ducks too so if you want to keep them around, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Nesting can be a bit more difficult. You will want to use the aforementioned tactics but stop immediately if the geese lay eggs. Contact your wildlife department; you may need a permit to go any further with the removal process.
Hire a Removal Service
No, not the pest control department, either. There are actual services out there that can humanely remove the geese from your property. Some of these will implement the use of trained working dogs and visit your property frequently until the geese are gone.
Geese view dogs as predators. And the same as any other animal, they will not want to visit an area where predators are. Given enough time, they will just go somewhere else if they think that the dogs are there for good.
Keep in mind that if your area is heavily impacted by geese, it could take years to get the geese to realize that they are not welcome. The good thing is that when you finally get rid of the geese, new birds will understand that they are not welcome either.
Because there is no magical repellent, it takes time. Ducks, for instance, can be easier to scare away because you can use things such as fake animals or natural repellents to keep them away.
For geese, it takes a lot of noise and effort to make sure that they don’t come back.
There are less humane ways to get rid of them but that all depends on you and your desire to get rid of the geese. But for those looking to simply scare the geese away, there may be no better way to do so than with a living, breathing predator.
Your goose infestation doesn’t have to remain as such. With a couple of natural methods, you can get the geese to migrate somewhere else and enjoy your property free of goose droppings.
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.
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