Can geese hear a dog whistle?

[lovedbygeese]

Hi all,

I tend to three geese I've been visiting at a nearby "preserve"/park for I don't know how long...6, 7 or 8 years(?) At one time there were 8 or 9 geese, now, just 3. It's a running joke among city police as well as park rangers that no one really cares much for the animals in that park and they're rarely patrolled. I've seen such horrible things done there.

They drain the "ponds" the birds live on (incl. migratory birds) to supposedly allow the water to leach into the groundwater as well as to sell it (there are a lot of supposedly-s around this park as in it's only called a "preserve" b/c someone paid $50 for a sign that says "preserve"on it.)

Several times/day people let their dogs off leash to charge the birds and rabbits, flush them, chase them and attack them. It happened again yesterday, this time to the geese.

I had just set down a stool I carry with me so I could admire the birds, when...

Two women let a pitbull named Priscilla off leash to run across the nearly dry "pond" the geese were on. It must've run 5 - 700 ft across dry earth, then it swam an additional 10+ ft into the water after one of the three geese. The women acted absolutely blithely. I ran my heart out toward the geese, falling several times, screaming for help all the while, saying that someone had let their pitbull loose against the geese. The earth was un-level, lupus and ra don't let me run well and, well, enough about me... Not a soul moved to help. I kept running and even set off a safety alarm hoping to deter the dog or the women walking lazily toward her. I kept running and screaming for help. I'd run nearly 500 ft before the women cheerfully called out to the dog to have her return to them. The dog did not respond, it was too involved with the goose. Then I saw the goose disappear and the dog loose interest, eventually returning to the women.

Banged up, I walked back to gather up the stool and make my way to the front of the park to try and check on the geese. Upon returning I found two people standing beside the stool flipping through their phones. I said, "Two women let their pitbull off leash to chase the geese! At one point there were 8 or 9 geese, now there are only 3!" They said absolutely nothing and then walked away.

At the front of the park I only found 2 geese and never saw the women nor Priscilla leave by the front of the park. I walked in search of the missing goose who, for all I knew, could've left the park via the dog's mouth. This was all happening around 7 - 7:30 in the evening.

I walked until I heard the goose call. I located it and told it if it was hurt not to leave the water, I'd check back the next day to see it'd rejoined it's siblings.

This morning it had and I saw a maybe 2" gash on the back of it's right leg.

I made a report with the park ranger who happened to be passing through. He said there's little that could be done about it, or about preventing it from happening again (the ranger came around closer to 8:30.)

I don't know what to do for the future. I doubt the cruelty or indifference will stop.

But I'm wondering, would blowing a dog whistle bother the geese or other birds in any way? (I know they don't like sirens.) I'm just trying to find a peaceful way to call a dog off in the future should it ever happen again.

I'd like to buy a whistle if it won't hurt the geese in any way.

For now, I'm just reduced to going out and checking on them every night and being worried all day.

Thanks so much!

 

[The goose girl]

Unfortunately, I doubt you can do anything to protect the geese. Unless of course you remove them from the park and install them in a safe and dog-free location. But I'm guessing you don't have accomodations for them.

Some dog owners seem to be totally indifferent to anything but their own dog. In my experience, they're usually also very laissez-faire when it comes to training their dog. It's one of my recurrent nightmares when I'm walking my goose: encountering a loose and poorly trained dog. I try not to think about it, as there's really nothing I can do to prevent it.

My goose can hear dog whistles; they don't seem to bother her. She'll just raise her head and be alert - much like when she hears an airplane or a helicopter. But a dog needs to be trained to react to a dog whistle - just like it needs to be trained to react to its owner calling it.