Each year thousands of Golf Courses, Parks, Green Belts, Back Yards, Baseball Fields and even cemeteries are inundated with messy, slippery Canada Goose droppings. Canada Geese have become a nuisance in many areas!
They thrive in the close protection and feeding opportunities they find in parks, near suburban wetlands, and on lawns or golf courses. Populations of urban Canada Geese are still growing. Flocks of non-migrating Canada geese have become established throughout Maryland and other Atlantic flyway states. In urban areas, Canada geese have responded to landscape features that provide expanses of short grass for food, lack of natural predators, absence of hunting, and hand feeding by some people.
Although most people find a few geese acceptable, problems develop as local flocks grow and the droppings become excessive (a goose produces a pound of droppings per day). Problems include over-grazed lawns, accumulations of droppings and feathers on play areas and walkways, nutrient loading in ponds, public health concerns at beaches and drinking water supplies, aggressive behavior by nesting birds, and safety hazards near roads and airports. Geese can also damage agricultural crops by excessive grazing.
Although most people find a few geese acceptable, problems develop as local flocks grow and the droppings become excessive (a goose produces a pound of droppings per day). Problems include over-grazed lawns, accumulations of droppings and feathers on play areas and walkways, nutrient loading in ponds, public health concerns at beaches and drinking water supplies, aggressive behavior by nesting birds, and safety hazards near roads and airports. Geese can also damage agricultural crops by excessive grazing.
Eliminating the food sources is a key to reducing the goose population. Geese eat grass, so make it unpalatable! The easiest way to do this is to spray your lawn with a product called Migrate available from Bird-B-Gone, Inc. It is a biodegradable, safe, EPA approved product that "flavors" the lawn so that the geese do not like the taste. The active ingredient in Migrate is MA (methyl anthranilate), which is a human-safe food flavoring derived from grapes so it is harmless to the geese, other animals and humans. It will not pollute ponds or lakes and is easy to apply. Additionally, if someone in your area is feeding the geese then there is little you can do to stop them.
