Wild geese are among the most graceful and breathtaking wildfowl, but most people would prefer it if they didn’t make their gardens or yards their homes. They can make a lot of noise and their droppings can pose a health hazard to people, especially children.
In this post, we’re looking at a variety of methods on how to get rid of geese, so keep on reading if you need new ideas for handling this situation.
1. Install a geese repelling lighthouse
Another tip on how to get rid of Canadian geese that we can give you is to try a geese-specific repelling lighthouse.
In a way, this type of device is more or less similar to the strobe light that we have already mentioned, but being uniquely made to repel geese, it might offer better results.
Most of the models that you will stumble upon if you are willing to try a geese-repelling lighthouse can be installed directly in the ground.
They are often equipped with stakes that make taking them out of the ground almost impossible, just in case a critter attempts to do just that.
In general, these devices come with a solar-powered light that is very powerful and that flashes on a regular basis so that it makes it very hard for the geese to get any sleep.
The population that might have made a home on your property will sooner rather than later look for another place to hang around in since even geese do not feel well if they do not get enough sleep.
It typically takes a couple of days for the device to deter the birds, so you need to have a little patience.
2. Scare with a geese predator decoy
The best geese deterrent is the one that doesn’t cause any health problems for the birds, and it’s as easy (and cheap) for you.
There are a number of geese predators out there, and if you purchase a decoy that looks like one, the birds will try to avoid that area.
Some people have had excellent results with DIY goose decoys, but the truth is that in many cases, they aren’t realistic enough.
The best goose deterrent actually resembles an animal that’s threatening to Florida geese or to Canadian geese, so it would have to be either a fake alligator head or at least a fake dog or coyote.
Another natural geese repellent consists of plastic geese that look like they have been killed.
This wouldn’t resemble a goose predator, but it would still give the birds the feeling that they are in danger if they keep hanging around on your property for too long.
Since swans are known to attack geese, one way of getting rid of Canada geese, for example, would be to get a pair of swans to live on your pond or use several fake ones on your water bodies.
Such a decoy usually comes with one or two anchors (or anchoring stakes) so that the plastic bird remains in one place.
3. Install a motion-activated sprinkler
If everything else fails and you’re still getting annoying geese on your property, you might want to fight them off using what they’re actually attracted to.
Although it’s widely known that geese love water, which is why they will gather around ponds and lakes, they don’t really like it when it’s splashed on their body.
You can use this bit of information to your advantage and repel geese using a motion-activated sprinkler geese deterrent. With its assistance, you will be able to keep geese out of your yard and even scare geese away from around water sources.
The way such a device works to scare goose populations is through a motion sensor that it is outfitted with.
Such a sprinkler is effective because it is eco-friendly, non-chemical, and perfectly safe for everyone, even for the geese themselves. Plus, since it’s water that’s being sprayed on them, you can even install it next to your vegetable patches.
Instead of relying on homemade goose repellent, you can rest assured that the sprinkler will do its job for up to six months and even cover up to 1,200 square feet.
Of course, you have the option of getting more coverage if you install several motion-activated sprinklers across your property.
4. Grow your grass taller
To repel Canadian geese or any other species, for that matter, you could keep your grass longer than 6 inches.
The reason these birds loathe staying in areas that aren’t clear is that in long grass, there could be any number of predators just looking to pounce and attack them.
While this isn’t a geese repellent per se, it is a solution to some of your geese problems.
If there is a pond anywhere on your property, your grass has to be a species that gets even longer than six inches.
If you could keep it at a length of about 20 inches, it would be even better as they aren’t going to want to come anywhere near it.
They will avoid it so much that they will start to look for food elsewhere, so they might even leave your property for a longer period of time.
Keep in mind that all water sources, whether natural or man-made, appeal to geese, so having high grass around them will at least partially solve the issue.
If you want, you can plant particular species around your water sources so as to deter geese from coming to your property.
Choose anything between cattails and rushes to sedges and warm-season grasses and make sure they have a height of at least 2 feet (over a width of up to ten feet).
5. Intimidate with goose distress calls
A bird noise maker is another type of device that can help you deter Canadian geese or any other species, for that matter.
There is the option of you picking a model that actually emits a goose distress call, but you can also opt for one that emits ultrasounds.
Sonic repellents are particularly effective when it comes to displacing geese from a particular area, even though this method only works if you have the device on all the time.
Although they are a temporary solution, most sonic repellents get the job done.
The best geese repellent in this category is usually equipped with a solar panel so that it can work with little to no effort on your behalf.
Moreover, a timer is necessary as it allows the unit to make the distress call every once in a while so that it scares geese away. Such a geese repellent is usually marketed as having an operating range.
Keep in mind that every model has a specific one (such as two acres), so pick the right one for the size of the area you want to be covered.
The sound typically lasts for approximately two minutes and it is repeated every ten minutes or more.
6. Remove all food sources
One of the reasons geese control can be very challenging is that these birds can be quite versatile when it comes to the things they eat.
They can munch on human food, which is why avoiding leaving your garbage out so that they can’t consume it is the first step toward getting rid of them.
Geese food can consist of a range of things if they don’t have anything available. Most will eat grass if they don’t find any other food sources, and they are known to love legumes if that’s what can be found on your property.
A good piece of advice to keep geese off lawn spaces is to avoid leaving your grass to get too long (so that they can’t eat it).
Also, you can vary between several species of grass from one year to the next whenever planting the new grass seed.
You can treat your grass with a repellent, a chemical such as Methyl-anthranilate, which makes the grass taste awful to birds.
If you have a pond on your property where geese tend to gather and you have people coming over, tell them to avoid feeding them, especially human food.
Not only is it not healthy for them (since it often contains too much fat and salt), but they will also come back in search of more, making your efforts to get rid of geese useless.
7. Scare them with strobe light
To deter Canadian geese, you can also use goose deterrent light. There are mainly two types of Canada goose repellents available in this category.
One of them is sound-activated, so it will keep geese away by scaring them whenever they come close to the device. The other option would be to leave a strobe light on for the duration of a whole night.
While it might seem like a nuisance if you place the goose deterrent light next to your home, if you’re creative enough to cover the sides so that the light doesn’t get into your house through your windows, it will get the job done properly.
As is the case with any other goose deterrent products, there is a considerable disadvantage to using this method, too, and it consists of the fact that it will attract a variety of bugs, such as mosquitoes and others.
Fortunately, some strobe lights currently available for sale are customizable, which means that you can set the amount of time they work for and the intervals at which they do it.
That will at least prevent your porch from getting flooded with an insect population for which you’ll have to find other repellents in the future.
8. Grid your pond with wire or mesh
To keep geese away from pond or lake areas, you can always resort to using wire or mesh. Naturally, this solution for geese removal only works on water bodies that aren’t too large, as covering a huge lake with wire is practically impossible.
However, if this method is combined with a number of other repellents, such as a liquid deterrent sprayed on the grass near the lake, a decoy in the form of several swans on the water body, and flashing lights during the night, it will prove to be a quite effective Canadian geese deterrent.
When covering a water body with wire, you should make it challenging for the birds to be able to land on the water or walk into it.
That is why running wire across the pond in 10-12 inches checkerboard squares is what you should do. The grid should be at about 8 inches off the water so that it’s too small and low for the birds.
With this method, you will be able to deter a number of large bird species, not just geese. However, most homeowners who have tried it in the past say that it doesn’t pose any problems to mallard ducks.
9. Apply liquid geese repellent
Among the best Canada goose deterrents that you can give a shot to, especially if you’re looking for an effective solution to your problem, is a so-called liquid bird repellent that actually works and isn’t even dangerous to use.
In most cases, such a geese deterrent will keep geese off your lawn or any other area it’s sprayed or fogged on and it will do that thanks to a substance it contains, one that’s called Methyl-Anthranilate (MA).
Even though the formula is safe to use and it gives off a grape smell when being sprayed, it acts as a natural goose repellent by irritating the birds’ receptors thanks to its nano-particles.
Not only will such a product assist you in your Canadian geese removal attempts, but it will also ensure that other birds that you might not want on your property, such as pigeons, gulls, starlings, or blackbirds, will not make a home in your garden or yard.
In case you don’t want to spend your hard-earned money on such a solution, you can always use grape Kool-Aid and spray it or fog it on your grass or lawn. Believe it or not, it contains Methyl-Anthranilate. In fact, it’s the exact formula that gives it its grape taste.
10. Restrict access to water
If you want to make geese go away, you can effectively and conveniently use their water fondness to your advantage.
If you set up barriers around any body of water that you might have on your property, these birds will be less likely to spend time in those areas.
Since they also tend to hate tall plants, to deter geese, you might also want to plant some shrubbery around your lake or pond.
Anybody of water that is surrounded by plants that are at least two feet in height will automatically make a goose be gone, nevermind a whole population.
Remember that geese like open and clear spaces as they can easily survey them and check whether there are any predators that could pose a threat to them.
To get rid of goose flocks, you can merely line your water bodies with plants or other types of barriers that have a minimum height of 18 inches.
By the way, this includes the DIY deterrents you might want to try, such as the big-eyed balloons, homemade scarecrows, or DIY decoys. You should make sure that they are also tall enough to be able to scare geese off from a distance.
11. Prevent geese from nesting
How to get rid of geese in my yard if they’ve been here for the past several years?
Well, if you’ve noticed a goose population on your property that tends to stay no matter how much you try deterring it, it’s quite likely that the birds have learned to nest in some areas.
Take the time to observe their behavior and see whether they aren’t gathering in specific places.
If you already know their nesting spots from years before, you can simply place heavy objects at the nesting sites so that they have no way of using them again.
You can use decorative rocks for this purpose if you’re also looking for a way to take your landscape to a whole new level.
In general, geese aren’t as easily deterred, so they will keep coming back to the nesting site time and again.
If you see this happening, you can simply use a rock-filled laundry detergent bottle to scare them away or place a strobe light in that specific area so that it deters them at night.
If you suspect that the geese have already nested on your property, get in touch with a professional to remove the eggs and have them placed in a different region. You need a permit from the local authorities to do this yourself.
12. Get a dog
What are geese afraid of and what could make it very hard, if not impossible, for them to spend too much time near your home? A dog can keep geese out of yard places, but there are three ideal breeds that work best for the task.
The Border Collie is a natural Canada goose predator and it will not only scare them off but also convince them that it’s not a good idea for them to return.
That’s because it doesn’t tend to run after them in a playful manner, as a Beagle would, for example. Among the other canine Canadian geese, predators that you might want to use are the German Shepherd and the Australian Cattle Dog.
German Shepherds are very smart and they can be easily trained to help you with your geese problems.
They can follow your instructions with as little effort as possible. They’re also quite brave, so they will stand up to geese even if they try to threaten them.
By contrast, the Australian Cattle Dog is very persistent, which means that it’s not going to stop deterring geese no matter how many times they come back. Moreover, this breed has plenty of stamina, so it will keep chasing birds away for a whole day if that’s necessary.
13. DIY goose repellent
You can make your own Canadian geese repellent at home, but do keep in mind that whichever DIY project you undertake, it might be less effective than relying on technology to practice good Canada goose control.
One way to get rid of Canadian geese or any other species, for that matter, is to use a laundry detergent bottle, partially fill it up with rocks and then tie a rope around its neck.
Shake the bottle every time you come next to a flock or a goose and you’ll notice that the birds tend to be scared by the noise.
Naturally, the most significant drawback of using this method is that you can’t repel geese when you’re not actively scaring them away.
So, during the night, they’ll tend to their own business and go into your garden or yard if they have to search for food.
A DIY project you can try is creating your own scarecrow. While it might be less effective since most birds aren’t that put off by scarecrows these days, you could dress the scarecrow with a few rags so that the wind creates a flapping motion. The latter will irritate birds and they’ll avoid that area.
Another homemade goose repellent is a balloon on which you’ve painted a large set of eyes. If you use several around your lake or pond or even on your property, the birds will be deterred as it will make them feel uncomfortable.
14. Create geese deterring landscape
Geese have excellent sight and they tend to avoid dense and tall vegetation. So, if you have nothing against planting tall grass on your property, you can always use it creatively to landscape your garden or lawn.
Some of the species that geese are known to hate, either because they don’t like their taste or because they are likely to suffer from fungus, are tall fescue, English Ivy, Japanese pachysandra, and the common periwinkle.
Planting trees can also prevent these birds from landing in grazing areas, but this method only works after they’ve grown for several years.
Try to plant as many bushes, shrubs, or hedges on your property as you can, and you’ll see that geese will begin to avoid those areas in no time.
So long as you purchase eye-catching goose deterrent decoys such as those resembling goose predators, you can use this preventative landscape design to your advantage.
Getting a dog would solve some of your goose problems, especially since some breeds, such as the Border Collie, tend to get overly excited and run around after them.
However, if this is not an option for you, you could always get a number of fake dog decoys and install them across the area you want to keep goose-free.
15. Call a professional
If you’re tired of all the goose noise and the mess that geese are making out of your garden, calling a professional might be the right way of going about things.
A person who knows how to keep geese away usually has the insight and methods to achieve the task in a timely fashion.
Furthermore, a professional can also instruct you on what type of goose deterrent you can use in case you are confronted with the same problem again in the future. Such services can make it impossible for any annoying goose population to nest near your home.
We’re giving you this piece of advice because even though it does tend to cost a bit more money than some of the devices that we have mentioned, pest control services combine a number of deterrents to get the job done.
For example, they might use sound devices, visual deterrents, chemical repellents, a bird wire system, and a motion deterrent all at the same time.
No birds are still going to hang around when there are so many reasons not to, so you’ll soon see no geese anywhere near your water bodies and you aren’t going to have to wait a lot for this to happen.
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thank you for the article
We have had geese on our 6 acres for the past 2 years. When I say geese, I mean about 50 of them!!! We don’t put good out for then so they chow down on our grass. We scare them away by riding our quad towards them. They fly away but come back in about 30 minutes! We hate how they poop all over our yard! They don’t go in our garden. Thank goodness for that! Please help!!!!
I have used an infrared thermometer (Kizen LaserPro LP300 on Amazon) to scare the entire flock away. I simply pointed, pressed the button and waved the device at them. The flock took to flight and did not return for 10 days, preferring other lakes in the area. This must be done in low light situations where the light can be seen, preferably dawn when they begin to feed on lawns. They came back after 10 days and I repeated the same intervention. It has been a week and they haven’t showed back again. After trying many other things this has been the most effective.
In Washington State, the tall plants or long grass does not work, I watch the geese every day on the lake walk right in to the tall plants/grass to eat.
I live in south Florida and have a large Egyptian goose that either sits on my car roof or underneath my car. It continues to poop on my car roof in my condo parking lot. I’ve no idea why it’s just my car (it’s gold). I’m tired of getting my car washed every other day. Thankfully I have unlimited washes. But that’s not the point. I’ve an assigned parking spot and now have moved my car to a different lot. What else can I do?
I use FlightControlMAX, a nontoxic yard/garden spray which won’t hurt your car roof or plant life, and it has worked for me, but there are a bunch of different methods. Try looking through the list of suggestions at Worldbirds.com/how to get rid of geese.
Good Luck !
P.S. I suppose you could adopt the goose, but he might actually bring in his whole fam if you do that!