White Geese or Swans to scare away Canada Geese?

[BaaKaaawk]

Hi guys, I have a 4-acre pond that is a favorite stopping spot for migrating geese in the Fall and Spring- and although I love nature, the problem here is I get literally hundreds, maybe even thousands of geese. There are so many geese and so much poop that it actually hurts my pond. I get massive algae blooms and fish die (probably from chemical imbalances at the shoreline during rain pushing all to poop in).

You may think I am overacting, but ONE Canada goose can poop 2 pounds per day. I have hundreds of them there for weeks at a time. Do the math- just 100 geese x 2 pounds x 90 days = 18,000 pounds of poop into my pond, or almost 10 tons of goose poop. That's a serious issue.

I have a Doberman and he does a decent job of chasing them off, but even he can't keep up because he's not outside all the time. So I have read, which I think is false but wanted to ask- that having White Geese which are wing-clipped / other (essentially residents) will grow very territorial and keep Canada geese away. Is this true?

I read the same about white swans, but they are crazy expensive (like $4K per pair).

Any help would be appreciated. I hate to resort to what other posters have said works... grape kool-aid and anti-goose sprays.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

The kool-aide would be worse for your pond than the poo. That would definitely kill your fish and plantlife.

I have ducks and when 'their' pond has too much poo/water volume I use a pump to remove some water (it is the best fertilizer you will ever find) and then either pump clean water into their pond or let the one that feeds it overflow into their pond (I have a larger pond next to it with the drinking water)


Personally I would go the other way, I would deepen and enlarge the pond so that the water volume could accommodate the visitors and then use the enriched water on the fruit trees and garden. If you are worried about watering with poo, just stick to watering plants whose food is on the surface (think tomato instead of potato). Smaller fruits, like blackberry, blueberry love the fertilizer.

Becoming a goose mother will be a lot more cost and trouble than figuring out how to live with the visitors. I would worry about their giving each other the avian flu anyway, then you might end up with it in your chickens. It isn't likely your chickens would interact with the wild birds, but your geese might interact with the wild ones


Since your pond is "used" to having this fertilizer come every year likely it is already dealing with it in a way that the poo has now become important to feeding animals and plants around it. The algae bloom is most likely feeding the creatures that need it to make their offspring. If you stop the geese you will starve the pond's natural ecosystems.

 

[Goosebaby]

Geese won’t scare away Canada geese, they may get territorial, maybe, but it won’t stop them, the wild geese are using your pond as a tool to remain alive on their migration, so it’s going to be hard to dissuade desperate creatures.
As for swans, they are more territorial... Swans can be murderous bad tempered creatures. They can bond with you if you raise them from an egg, but most hatcheries that sell them sell young paired adults or nearly adults, so there’s a good chance they’re going to like you and your Doberman as much as they’ll like the geese. Another drawback is if they don’t like you they’ll still be there all year round unlike the geese, unless you rehome them.

@Mother-Hen-Michele has excellent ideas, it’s easier to see the geese as an oportunity that a nuisance.

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Personally I would go the other way, I would deepen and enlarge the pond so that the water volume could accommodate the visitors and then use the enriched water on the fruit trees and garden. If you are worried about watering with poo, just stick to watering plants whose food is on the surface (think tomato instead of potato). Smaller fruits, like blackberry, blueberry love the fertilizer.

I would LOVE to, but to go from 4 acres to about 10 acres (which is the next spot I can dam on the property) is almost $40K. Would make for a great pond!

Honestly, there is clearly not "easy fix" so I am probably just going to let bygones be bygones and hope what you are saying about it being a mini ecosystem are true. I'm not exaggerating on the number of geese either. I'll grab some pictures this Fall. One time I tried to count them where there was a massive flock and gave up at 200.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Maybe you could set up a camera and live-stream the geese. There is a way to set up a virtual tip-jar (ask someone younger than me how), maybe you can get donations to "help cover the costs" of the migratory bird sanctuary you've got going on. Or if you want to rent some rooms or allow camping to bird watchers who might want to see them. You are part of something unique... Maybe the local school kids can have an activity outing to see them. Charge a minor amount to the school, have them bring their own lunch.

Maybe you can say you are raising money to make the pond bigger... Something like a go-fund me might work (watch out for fees)

I wonder if you can claim part of your municipal taxes back on your taxes since you have this (likely protected) species coming through. You can't otherwise develop it, so it becomes something you are doing for the environment

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Maybe you could set up a camera and live-stream the geese. There is a way to set up a virtual tip-jar (ask someone younger than me how), maybe you can get donations to "help cover the costs" of the migratory bird sanctuary you've got going on. Or if you want to rent some rooms or allow camping to bird watchers who might want to see them. You are part of something unique... Maybe the local school kids can have an activity outing to see them. Charge a minor amount to the school, have them bring their own lunch.

Maybe you can say you are raising money to make the pond bigger... Something like a go-fund me might work (watch out for fees)

I wonder if you can claim part of your municipal taxes back on your taxes since you have this (likely protected) species coming through. You can't otherwise develop it, so it becomes something you are doing for the environment

Wow, you are full of ideas. I'll just resign to letting them do their thing. Appreciate the insight.

 

[swampfox440]

The only time I have had swans get aggressive is during the mating season even at that they don't scare me, most of the time they will even eat out of my hand, these swans I have I got one when it was an adult the other is four years old going on five. They will not scare Canada geese off unless they are guarding their nest of eggs. I have had swans for years I have seen heron's land in the fenced swan pond many times. I agree with Mother-Hen-Michele. The fertilizer is dynamite for you garden.

 

[swampfox440]

You also could have your pond dredged. They have mini dredges that suck all the bottom of the pond up and pump it into a giant bag like thing. There are some contractors that do this for a living. Just a suggestion. I hope this helps.

 

[DucksGeeseHeart]

A while back I found some lists of government-sanctioned methods for deterring Canada Geese from public or private properties. (I don't have the same problem where I live - actually the opposite problem - and was curious about what things might legally be done by property managers).

The easiest-to-read list was from NYS, but I can't find that one now. Here is a link to a general one as well as the one from CT.gov.

Canada Goose Damage Prevention and Control

CT.GOV Problems with Canada Geese

If you scroll to the section called "Habitat Modification" on either of these pages - I think this will be of most interest.

In addition to these methods, I believe it was the NY page that mentioned if you have a fountain on your pond, shut it off in the winter so the pond will completely freeze over. The absence of unfrozen water will be a deterrent in winter. (where I live the geese arrived in winter - only two! but also a huge number of ducks - to stake out their nesting territory).

 

[DucksGeeseHeart]

P.S. to what I wrote above:

The two geese that came this past winter did manage to fend off all other Canada Geese who tried to stop by for the whole rest of the year. Including a pair that nested here previously. The Gander, having apparently chosen this several-acre, 3-pond section for his family, was very aggressive about guarding the whole space from any interlopers. (We traditionally have a different pair here, but they arrived too late this year!). This included various groupings of up to nine in number. There were huge dramatic and noisy chases between these great birds!

It reminded me of when I witnessed a breeding pair of swans on a pond next to the Sound in Connecticut. That Cob was scary and made routine checks of the perimeters, chasing away EVERY other living creature from anywhere near his shoreline.

After the Canada Geese were nested here, a group - I believe the pair from previous years - came back and tried to destroy it! I didn't think this was a thing but read that it is. I was horrified. One dove directly at the nest, but was successfully thwarted.