Will a Gander help?

[ColtHandorf]

Many years ago, my geese were acting ugly to a kid. They were too shy to really get her, but they were pinching her shoes. She kept squealing that the geese were giving her kisses. Haha

 

[GCrumb]

Naw. An angry gander can hurt somebody badly. Especially if that person is small or crouched on the ground so the bird can hit them in the head with the bony part of its fore-wing.

Probably you'll have to either fence the children out, or tell the adults that if they cannot keep the children from chasing your birds, they'll have to take the children away, and insure they follow the rule.

 

[GooseInGarden]

Naw. An angry gander can hurt somebody badly. Especially if that person is small or crouched on the ground so the bird can hit them in the head with the bony part of its fore-wing.

Probably you'll have to either fence the children out, or tell the adults that if they cannot keep the children from chasing your birds, they'll have to take the children away, and insure they follow the rule.

GCrumb is right. I have had ganders leave me with bruses about as big as a soccer ball. The damage they could do to a kid is substantial.

Education and shelter for the geese are probably your best options. I have a flock of about 20 geese, and my kids and my brother's kids are always back in that area with limited problems. The geese don't like to mingle but know the kids won't hurt them. And in turn, I have talked to the kids enough that they know better than to make the geese scared.

If you do get a gander, I would suggest one that was raised around kids and definitely not a mean one. My old ones are show trained, so they might hiss and show wings if pushed too much, they will give ground if pressed farther. If a kid gets scared at that and starts crying, flapping their arms, or running, the gander sometimes takes that as a sign to intensify their flock defense to an actual attack, so you need training on both sides.

A pallet shelter the geese can duck around or some panel fencing they can go through would be the simplest option, I think.

 

[GMoose]

Thank you all very much!

 

[skeeeter]

Man, kids are monsters sometimes, they come in groups and nothing will stop them from petting the geese.

Here is where we start telling the kids the story about "mean geese". "The geese want to bite you, don't get too close!" "Watch out! They attack!" . Also, you do need a place to shut them away from pesky kids. And DO accept that gander. Believe me.. I know what I'm saying.. I was one of those pesky 'I wanna pet the _____." kids too!