Canada Geese Hazing Techniques in NJ, NY & CT
Once a beautiful addition to parks and recreation areas, Canada geese now present everything from safety to environmental hazards in municipal and suburban communities. Once these birds find environments that they find inviting, they not only become entrenched, other flocks join them. Since changes in food availability and climate have caused this historically migratory bird to remain year-round in some areas, it has become necessary for humans to pull in the welcome mat. Read on to learn more about techniques that can discourage Canada Geese from making themselves at home on your property.
What Is Goose Hazing?
Goose ridding techniques known as hazing are more accurately described as harassment. You’re creating a climate that’s so unpleasant that the bird simply doesn’t want to live there. You certainly wouldn’t want to live in a neighborhood where you and your family were in fear for their lives. Or one in which your neighbors created constant and insane levels of noise. While it’s true that some humans would resolve these issues by complaining or hiring a lawyer, many others leave or never move in at all. Fortunately for property owners, if goose hazing is done right, geese take the latter approach.
Can You Go Wrong with Goose Hazing?
Everyone’s heard stories about homeowners who put up with terrible neighbors or conditions in exchange for a fabulous property. Canada geese feel the same way. Why flee a known source of food, water, and shelter simply because a hostile human occasionally shouts at them? For it to be effective, hazing can’t be halfhearted or a one-time event. Goose flocks have to be convinced that there is a real and constant threat to their community. And in the eyes of a goose, what are these threats?
Predators
Given their physical size and flock numbers, aside from humans the greatest adult goose predator is canine. In the wild, this would generally be a fox or coyote. Domestic dogs are not as good at goose snatching. But they’re noisy and aggressive, and sometimes even sharp enough to seize a gosling or unearth a nest of eggs. Because of this, geese will avoid setting up shop in areas with free roaming dogs. Tied up dogs annoy geese as much as anyone else with all of that barking, but don’t really act as a deterrent.
Your bird chasing Labradoodle won’t be seen as much of a threat, either. However, Canada geese take herding dogs with their discipline and intensity very seriously. Property owners have gotten very good results with “rented” border collies obtained from farms or trainers. It’s also possible to obtain fake predators like plastic coyotes from garden centers. The success of this technique depends on how much effort property owners wish to invest in this charade. Geese will not be deceived by a fake coyote unless it is moved frequently on a daily basis.
Noise And Guns
Firing blank shells and fireworks can deter flocks, but it must be done repeatedly. Many natural resource managers swear by using live rounds to shoot the leader of the flock only. This will cause the rest of the flock to panic and have trouble regrouping. However, it’s important than that the shooter be able to identify and bring down the correct lead bird for this method to be effective. This requires those using this method not only to have some hunting skill, but some knowledge of flock patterns as well.
While hazing can be an effective and humane method of freeing an area of problem geese, it takes expertise and persistence for it to work well. So, for hazing help that works, property owners should work with a professional goose removal service.
