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.