Canadian Geese often create a nuisance for property owners due to grazing habits and excessive droppings on lawns, golf courses, and near water bodies. Resolving conflicts requires an integrated management approach focused on humane deterrence. Effective, long-term solutions involve making an environment less appealing to the geese, encouraging them to relocate without causing injury. This strategy requires consistency and often involves combining several methods to be successful.
Modifying Landscape to Reduce Attraction
Geese are attracted to environments offering easy access to food, clear sightlines for predator detection, and proximity to water. The most effective long-term strategy involves altering the habitat to eliminate these desirable features. Geese primarily graze on short, fertilized turfgrass, such as Kentucky bluegrass, because it provides tender, high-protein shoots.
One highly effective modification is transitioning the lawn to less palatable grass species, like tall fescue, or reducing fertilization. Allowing grass to grow six to eight inches high also discourages grazing, as geese prefer shorter blades. This change makes the food source less desirable and reduces the area’s overall attractiveness.
Geese feel safer when they can easily see and walk between a foraging area and a body of water. Property owners can disrupt this security by establishing dense vegetative buffers along shorelines. Planting shrubs or tall native grasses at least 24 inches high and several feet wide creates a visual barrier that obstructs the geese’s view.
This natural landscaping also makes the transition from water to land more difficult. Eliminating intentional feeding and securing pet food or birdseed is important, as geese gather where reliable food is provided. Placing large rocks or creating steep banks along the water’s edge can physically obstruct their preferred walking paths.
Physical and Sensory Deterrence Methods
When habitat modification is not feasible, active physical and sensory deterrence methods can be employed to harass the geese humanely. These methods rely on making the environment feel unsafe or taste unpleasant. A low-level perimeter fence, constructed of wire mesh or monofilament line, is highly effective because geese prefer to walk onto a lawn rather than fly over a physical barrier.
A fence 18 to 30 inches tall with mesh openings no larger than three inches by three inches is sufficient to block access. For water bodies, a grid system of thin wires or monofilament lines stretched 12 to 18 inches above the surface prevents geese from landing. This strategy works best in smaller ponds, as geese prefer open water for landing and takeoff.
Sensory deterrents include taste aversion products and visual scare devices that must be used consistently to prevent habituation. Non-toxic chemical repellents containing methyl anthranilate can be sprayed onto the grass. This compound, derived from grapes, makes the grass taste bitter and unpalatable without harming the geese.
For immediate action, a motion-activated sprinkler system can spray water when geese enter a protected area, startling them away. Visual deterrents, such as reflective tape or Mylar balloons, create flashing light that geese find unsettling, but these must be moved frequently to remain effective. Hazing, often performed by trained border collies, is highly effective because geese perceive the dogs as a natural predator, convincing the flock that the area is unsafe.
Understanding Legal Restrictions and Permits
Any actions taken to manage Canadian Geese must comply with federal and state regulations, as these birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The MBTA makes it illegal to “take”—including pursuing, hunting, capturing, or killing—any migratory bird, nest, or egg without proper authorization. Violations of this law can result in significant fines or penalties.
Humane non-lethal activities, such as hazing, using chemical repellents, installing physical barriers, and landscape modifications, generally do not require a federal permit. This is provided they do not result in direct contact, injury, or death to the birds. If deterrence fails and intervention with nests or eggs is considered, a permit is required. The destruction or removal of nests and eggs (egg addling or oiling) is regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) or designated state agencies.
Property owners must first register with the USFWS through their electronic permitting system for control methods relating to resident geese nests and eggs. If the problem is complex or requires actions beyond simple deterrence, consulting a professional wildlife management specialist or the local state wildlife agency is advised. This ensures that all control measures, especially those involving reproductive control, are conducted legally and humanely.