Help! Goose Invasion!

[Volphin]

The dock and lake house back lawn are getting a lot of unwelcome Canadian Geese visitors lately, and they leave their calling card everywhere.  This is Watts Bar, 1-2Nm downstream from TN National.  As I understand it, you can't just open up on these critters without running afoul (or is that afowl? LOL) of Uncle Samuel.  It's not a big deal if I'm there... some noise and a few bottle rockets does the trick.  The problem is, we can go weeks in between visits.  In the meantime, the little buggers crap up a storm.  How can I make it less hospitable to them?  I really don't want to fence the waterfront...

Any ideas?

[gary_boom]

Scary balls. They worked for me.

[i1afli]

If you've recently seeded your yard then this can attract them and their visits will subside. Otherwise, difficult to keep them away if you're not there. 

[chances R]

Call TWRA, they created the problem......they will love to hear from you.

[JAB]

Pet alligators? 

I wonder if there is a way to rig up a digital clip of a really loud, air horn type sound - or maybe a random variety of sounds - to automatically play a couple of times during the day.  Do it through a bluetooth link with some of those outdoor bluetooth speakers (the ones disguised to look like rocks, etc.)  placed around the area they mostly frequent and see if that would kind of keep them scared away.  Or maybe if there were some way to have a loud siren on a timer to activate for a few seconds a couple of times a day.  If you could do some kind of loud noise on a timer with some kind of flashing lights that would operate simultaneously I wonder if that would be effective.  Now, I just have the idea - I have no clue how or even if it could be implemented.

Edited July 18, 2017 by JAB

[peejman]

Geese get used to the fake noise maker stuff pretty quickly.  There's not much you can do if you're not there very often. Got neighbors with a dog that'll run them off?

[Ronald_55]

Bear traps...they are Always the answer.

 

Seriously though, wonder if timed sprinkers would scare them and wash away the "calling cards"?

[Omega]

Try one of these:

https://www.zoro.com/bird-x-bird-repeller-110-vac-bxp-pro-1/i/G2416601/?gclid=CjwKCAjw47bLBRBkEiwABh-PkRJlSULI7ySc_Sf6xh3htIfP9qK8Xz23s7FPkw_1ruSmOfB6vKkRVhoCDxEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Wingshooter]

Get some raccoons, but then you have a new problem.

Scarecrow that you put out when you're not there?

[MP5_Rizzo]

Here's you a variety of products available.

coraplast coyote

Bird B Gone

[Wingshooter]

you can set my duck/goose hunting blind out. Ducks and geese traditionally avoid it like the plague

 

[Ronald_55]

Motion sensing paintball gun?

https://www.engadget.com/2007/11/26/automated-paintball-gun-keeps-the-residence-secure/

 

[Volphin]

Thanks everyone.  You guys have some good suggestions!  The neighbors have 2 dogs but they are fenced in and the geese know it.  LOL

I'm going to start with a low corded fence and mylar strips.  If they escalate the situation, I will move on to Bird X bird spikes and or electronics.  

I could also hook up motion sensors to turn on the sprinklers in the area.  Looking into that...

[chances R]

To be serious, I have seen shooting one goose, leaving it lay causing the others to avoid the area.  Now you will have to choose the smell in this hot weather for a few days vs. tracking in goose poop.  And of course you might want to check with TWRA.  I bet they will look the other way for one goose.

[bersaguy]

I have several friends that have had this problem that live on Old Hickory Lake and I have spoke with a couple of them about the problem. They both had drawn the same conclusion and that was fire crackers and bottle rockets but only because they live there and can do it when ever needed. Another buddy that has a camp on Kentucky Lake said that unless you have something that will move around like a dog or something animated that can be triggered by a motion sensor the geese won't be afraid of anything that just sets in the same location motionless. He tried the Coyote decoys with little to no success after about a week because it didn't move. He finally figured out that if he could make the Coyote Decoy move it would scare the geese so he rigged up a wire system with motors connected to a motion detector and the decoy would activate by motion and stop when the motion stopped. It sounds fairly complicated to me but he said it has worked for about 2 years now.

[FrankD]

motion activated sprinklers could work, been thinking about doing this in the garden for rabbits.

[TSprint1]

Try one of these:
https://www.zoro.com/bird-x-bird-repeller-110-vac-bxp-pro-1/i/G2416601/?gclid=CjwKCAjw47bLBRBkEiwABh-PkRJlSULI7ySc_Sf6xh3htIfP9qK8Xz23s7FPkw_1ruSmOfB6vKkRVhoCDxEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

These flat out work in keeping birds out of indoor horse arenas.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Omega]

50 minutes ago, TSprint1 said:

These flat out work in keeping birds out of indoor horse arenas.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

Yea, we installed some in the hangers which tend to always have the large doors open and they work great.

[ReeferMac]

I had a landscaping client back in the great white north that used ultrasonic speakers (on a motion sensor) to keep deer out of their garden. Said it was rather effective (and hardly noticeable unless you were up close trimming their hedges.... )

 

- K
 

[JAB]

I wondered about motion activated sprinklers, myself, but dismissed making that suggestion based on the fact that geese are 'waterfowl'.  I wonder if the sprinklers would bother them or if it would just provide them with a nice shower.

[bersaguy]

18 hours ago, ReeferMac said:

I had a landscaping client back in the great white north that used ultrasonic speakers (on a motion sensor) to keep deer out of their garden. Said it was rather effective (and hardly noticeable unless you were up close trimming their hedges.... )

 

- K
 

Deer have far more sensitive hearing then geese do and it might not work as well on them. The ultrasonic noise would hurt the deer hearing and that is why they would probably leave. Geese are not as smart as deer...........JMHO. I really think it is going to take something that moves around by a motion sensor the make them not stay around............JMHO

[ReeferMac]

http://wate.com/2017/07/28/gators-scare-away-problematic-geese-at-memphis-botanic-garden/

[Omega]

[Sidecarist]

On 7/19/2017 at 10:39 AM, chances R said:

To be serious, I have seen shooting one goose, leaving it lay causing the others to avoid the area.  Now you will have to choose the smell in this hot weather for a few days vs. tracking in goose poop.  And of course you might want to check with TWRA.  I bet they will look the other way for one goose.

This will work for most birds. Have a buddy that had a buzzard problem in Florida. A rubber turkey decoy hanging in a tree almost completely solved it.  They eventually come to associate the location with death and move on.

I had turkey issues up in NY (eating seed)and we would shoot one on a nuance permit and let it lay in the field. They learned quick from that, not something you want to do at a lake house though....

[brucelyn]

Please don't go hunting. Hunting hurts, harms, kills and distresses beings. It also can orphan young animals. 
I know I may sound like what some call a "PETA nuthead" here, but I really, really dissaprove of unnecessary hunting. Hunting when it is necessary in order to survive, I can (sort of) tolerate, but hunting for sport or even just because you fancy some caribou I can't tolerate. 
I am (almost) vegan, but I have friends and family who eat meat. I still love them. I still disagree with unnecessary hunting. 
Animals have feelings, too. How else would ou explain why an animal yelps or cries when hurt? How else would you explain the behaviour of a dog who runs up, wagging his/her tail, and bounding around when their person comes home? 
Why don't you look for another hobby that doesn't involve hurting, harming, killing or distressing any being? 
Best of luck.