Will swans chase away geese?

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Beautiful pics!

I think what the others are saying about swans refers to a mated pair, who will aggressively defend their territory. I don't think this applies to a single swan. And of all the swans, I always remember the mutes being the most aggressive (as pairs).

 

[Mike D--]

how much of a mess do the swans make. two swans compair to 6-8 geese

 

[waterdog]

A breeding pair of Mute swans will not tolerate geese and drive them off, although from what you have described with a body of water that size they would might just "patrol" a section of it and the geese would move to another part of it. As far as mess the swans spend most of the time on the water and don't graze as much as geese so not as messy as the geese, one thing to keep in mind is a breeding pair of Mutes will give humans near the pond the same treatment as the geese they are very aggressive during breeding and nesting.

 

[blessedchick]

I have a 1/2 acre pond and had a TERRIBLE time with the flying Canadian rats for several years - up to 32 pairs on that small body of water was horrible. I tried everything from trapping the babies and relocating them to my next door neighbor's pond (with his permission, of course), fireworks, dogs, racing at them with the car/tractor/truck, gridlines of fishing wire...you name it. I was blessed to be able to adopt 3 mute cygnets from a local rescue that I volunteer for and that was THE END of the FCRs (Flying Canadian Rats)!! Even as juveniles my swans would rip after any FCR that came onto the property and I have no doubts that they would kill one if given the chance. Now I have a tag team going where my guinea fowl shriek at the top of their lungs at the FCRs until my swans come and take over the job - hilarious! Just the looks on the FCRs faces when those guineas start screaming is priceless!

Also, my swans are very sweet. I handled them daily since they were 3 days old and they wouldn't even think of harming anyone. My female is on her nest right now and her mate just watches me carefully when I sit down in the grass next to her each evening for our nightly discussions and patting. I love them madly!

 

[smoothmule]

blessed chick, what a lovely thing. I found a mate for my Barry, not a Mute but an Australian Black Swan pen. She's very sweet, smallish but lovely and they're getting along fine. I know they could reproduce (the offspring would be infertile hybrids) but I don't care if they do or not. I just wanted Barry to have a companion and I expect they will bond so the Canada pair may have to find another summer home. The geese have disappeared so I expect they are setting right now. We've never had more than the one pair and they've never been a nuisance but I know friends who had problems so it's just as well if they become possessive of their pond

 

[blessedchick]

Oh I'm so glad that you found a friend for Barry!! They must make a beautiful pair...please, please, please post pictures! I wonder if the geese will stay away for good. It will be interesting to hear if Barry accepts them back now that he has a lady friend. What is the lady friend's name???

 

[smoothmule]

I'm pretty sure the geese are nearby setting eggs, they disappear a month or so every summer and return with the babies. I have to disagree about Mute swans always chasing geese away. The park in town has a small lake/ large pond with 2 breeding pairs of Mutes. The pond/park also has numerous tame geese and ducks and there are always wild geese and ducks in an out but neither pair of swans has ever bothered anything else there. Both pairs have eggs and setting now.

I'll post photo's when I get some of them together. Right now, they're staying away from each other. No fighting or fussing so that's good. I know it will take a little time for them to bond.

 

[josebeth1]

Our pair of mutes have been breeding on our very small pond for 7 years now. From the time that nest building starts until the cygnets are a couple of weeks old, Samson is a madman and nobody--no human, no other bird--I do mean no one is allowed near his pond!! But let the cygnets get a couple weeks out, Samson starts moulting and at that point becomes extremely mellow. He's at that stage right now, in fact. One day this week we had 10 geese arrive and some even got in the water. I was watching out the upstairs window and really became concerned when I saw absolutely no sign of Samson and for goodness sakes, there were GEESE on his pond!! In fear, I went flying out the front door only to find him sound asleep in a corner I couldn't see from the window. Never have I seen him get that mellow before!!
I don't know whether the "mellow" spell is due to the baby getting older or to Samson's moulting, but we do see the same pattern every year. I have read that the pairs actually moult in succession so that one is always able to defend while the other is close to "featherless" for a while which also would seem like a logical answer to his mellow attitude. He usually stays that way for a couple of months, though, and that includes the time his mate, Delilah, is going through her moult as well.
The best geese guards we have in the end are a specific pair of Canada Geese themselves that return every year (one looks like it had a broken leg or problem that healed badly and thus is easy to identify). They are totally territorial about their area--which doesn't include the pond itself though as Samson won't let them on it.

 

[Lorli]

My trumpeter swan male chased the geese at first, but then he decided he liked them and started walking around a plowed field with them. He also loves wild ducks and swims with them, and I have even seen him visiting with a flock of wild turkeys. He is very sweet and tame, even though he was 3 years old when I got him - the female is not as sociable and she is timid with people (she is only 1 year old). They do wander, though, they walk around to all the ponds in the area.

The mess is not bad at all. They make very large stools (the size of the dogs') but there seem to be fewer stools per bird and they don't seem to go constantly like geese. I gave my 5 sebastopol geese away because they decided to live on my front porch and it was impossible to keep it clean...besides, the postman refused to deliver parcels because of them.

 

[chickenzoo]

The best birds you can get to chase off geese from a pond are Egyptian geese IMO. They do not like to share their area with any other bird. Mine tolerate my swans and cranes but anyone else gets run off.... they hate my Canada geese..... And any wild geese that try to land here get the boot as soon as their.feet touch ground....lol. My one pair of Egyptians defend about a four acres area.