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?

 

[Dozernut]

We don't know yet if she has rejected the nest. We did not move it that far, maybe a foot higher. My wife is a fowl minded woman /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif and will jump in as a surogate mother if they abandon it. A lot of trouble for geese (a conservation police officer whom I am friends with, calls them flying rats). This is for the wife and we all have to put up with the idiosyncrasies of our mates.
Cindi, my wife is an absolute nut about fowl. Wroughten Harv would get along with her fine. She is a 4-H leader and poultry supervisor for the 4-H fair. We always have birds and kids running around the place. I told her it was more like a zoo than a home. The coyotes have been really bad this year and have killed a lot of her birds. The coyotes appear to have rebounded from the canine distemper that ravaged them a few years back. They got her dog last fall and I have orders to go hunting. The dog was a pup that someone dumped out and she took it in along with all the other stray animals to raise. BTW I enjoy reading your life stories, maybe you should do like the English vet, James Harriott, and put your stories in a book, I would buy and read it!

 

[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.