Can you do the Canada Goose trapping yourself?

Above photograph of Canada Goose Trapping.

DIY Tips for Canada Geese - Canada Geese are a common fixture in many parks, back yards and gold courses. These geese are large birds that are best described as being gray with a white underbelly, having a black neck with a white ring under its head. Canada geese have large wings and powerful webbed feet that they use to paddle in water. Canada geese are migratory birds and will go where there is food and water. Canada geese have grown accustomed to living near humans as they now associate humans more with food than they do with danger. Now that it is illegal to openly hunt the geese, the geese have learned that humans are not going to kill them. This lack of fear is largely what makes them such a pest.

While at first glance Canada geese do not look like they would be a nuisance, they are considered to be very irritating to others. Canada geese are extremely loud, especially if there is a large population in your yard. Geese communicate between themselves and offer warnings to other animals using honking noises. This can be incredibly annoying when you want to sleep or just have some quiet time. Canada geese also leave behind an enormous amount of droppings which can carry diseases like the Avian flu and also has an acidic quality to it. Their droppings create slippery surfaces and look really bad on your lawn or sidewalks. If their droppings get on anything man-made they can actually corrode metal, plastic and other materials. If you have Canada geese that you want to get rid of, try some of these do it yourself tips:

• To get rid of Canada geese the first thing you must do is to invest in some good sound deterrents. Geese hate loud and unpredictable sounds and will not land in a place that is noisy or that changes a lot. Geese are also migratory birds and it would help to have an air horn or loud noise maker to discourage them from landing on your lawn. You can also keep your dogs in your lawn to create noise and deter the geese.

• Make your lawn and/or water source as unattractive to the geese so they will not want to stay on your property. You can do this easily by letting your lawn and the grasses around your pond/lake/stream/etc. grow long and unruly. Canada geese need a flat surface to walk on and long grasses make it difficult to land. Furthermore, if geese do not have an easy access to the water they will feel vulnerable and not land.



• Putting up decoys is another great way to deter Canada geese from staying on your property. Decoys are ugly and make your lawn unattractive, but you only need to have them up during the migration season. Swan decoys are the best option as swans and geese do not get along as they are aggressive and territorial.

• Whether you have geese on your property, you see them in a park or on a greenway; it is a good rule of thumb to not feed the geese. Canada geese have grown accustomed to humans and now associate them with food and survival. If you feed them, they will remember that they can get food from you and return. Feeding the geese in the park on a Saturday afternoon has been a long standing tradition, but it is not good for the geese or the property owners. Feeding geese not only keeps them around, but human food, even plain bread, can severely disrupt the geese’s digestive system.

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