You have done your best to keep your yard tidied up. Your property is now the envy of the neighbors. Bravo! But then, out of the blue, the unwanted invaders came and messed things up. We’re talking about no other animal but geese.
Allowing a flock of geese to pass by your yard can cause significant damage to your turf. Additionally, geese’s droppings can pose a severe health risk for your youngsters, who enjoy having a great time on the lawn.
It’s every homeowner’s wish to keep geese at bay. These creatures have a reputation for putting lawns in bad shape. Unfortunately, most individuals have tried several methods but failed to achieve success.
If you’re one of such persons, read this post for practical tips on how to keep geese away from your yard without breaking a sweat.
15 Smart Ways To Keep Geese Out of Your Yard
Now, let’s discuss how you can cleverly keep geese off your yard. You can choose to use any of the tips here or combine them. The choice is entirely yours to make.
Are you ready? Let’s dive in.
1. Stop feeding geese
A handful of geese frequent your yard. And yes, they look cute, and you like the idea of seeing them around occasionally.
If this explains the situation you’re in, then you’re the one inviting trouble to your yard. Most homeowners may even go as far as feeding the geese, thinking they’ll only have to contend with a few of them.
But please listen. If you feel tempted to feed a couple of geese that came by your yard, discontinue doing such. Once the geese start seeing your yard as a food source, they’ll start visiting regularly. Before you know what’s happening, the population of geese visiting your yard would increase.
So, quit feeding geese that visit your yard. It would be best if you also tried to remove any food source in the area. If there’s no feed in your yard, geese have no business coming around. Instead, they would prefer to move to other places.
It would help if you also considered treating your grass with methyl-anthranilate. It makes grasses taste unpalatable to these birds.
Finally, take off anything that serves as a shelter to geese that frequent your yard.
2. Frighten the geese with loud noise
Is it possible to frighten geese with a loud noise? Yes, it’s possible. Geese enjoy spending time in quiet places. It allows them to hear when there’s a predator approaching them. Noise such as clanging sound, air horn, or from a human scares them too.
So, if you can’t get a device to produce a clanging sound or air horn, use your mouth to create the sound. The aim is to scare the birds away. So, whenever you find them around, make a loud noise. If you’re able to repeat this several times, the geese will get a hint that you don’t want them around and start complying.
If you’re not going to be around, inform your family member to keep scaring the geese away. And please, let them know that the intention isn’t to kill the birds but scare them away.
3. Build a fence around your yard
You probably might be thinking that this won’t work because guess can fly. And yes, you’re right. But what you mustn’t forget is that having a fence will help to ensure the birds won’t wander into your amazing-looking lawn on feet.
Additionally, you can make your yard scarier even after creating the fence around it. You can achieve this by attaching the Mylar tape around it.
4. Ask your canine friend for help
Dogs aren’t just amazing companions. They are also helpful around the house. Additionally, you can train your dog to chase geese out of your yard, whether you’re around or not.
Now, why should you train your dog to perform this task now and then? The truth is, sometimes you may not know when geese would come around. Your dog might have wind of their presence before you.
But please be careful. If the geese are raising young ones or nesting, ensure that your dog doesn’t make the mistake of chasing them. In this condition, the geese may want to fight back or protect their young ones.
If a fight breaks out, your lawn will suffer severe damage. Additionally, if you’re using your dog to chase geese off your yard, ensure the dog doesn’t feast on them.
5. Cultivate tall flowers and bushes
Planting tall flowers or allowing the grasses in your yard to grow taller may not make your landscape to be the most appealing. But if you’re serious about chasing geese away from your yard, you could benefit from this.
So, how do the planting of tall flowers or grasses chase geese away? It’s simple. Geese enjoy areas with open spaces. That way, they can easily spot predators and flee. Thus, having tall flowers and grasses around your yard will make them feel unsafe.
A Handy Tip: This technique would be most effective if you have a smaller yard. If your yard is quite extensive, the geese may easily find a spot where they feel more comfortable.
Again, if you feel like allowing grasses around your yard to grow taller won’t make your property look appealing, try planting some shrubs. Just choose the ones you know will help to make your property look attractive from the outside.
6. Introduce goose repellant
A thousand and one thoughts might be running through your mind right now while reading this technique. The goose repellant is made of chemical constituents. Thus, in your mind, it isn’t safe for your lawn, family, or geese.
But that’s far from the truth. Firstly, the Environment Protection Agency approves goose repellants. It’s safe on lawns, and you won’t even notice it’s there. What it does to geese is to make them go nuts.
Geese hate the smell of this repellant. Thus, they won’t even think of mating, nesting, eating, or gathering in your lawn. In addition, the repellant won’t harm the geese. It also won’t wash off during heavy rainfall. That’s what makes it unique.
Your only primary concern should be to ensure that you apply the repellant throughout your lawn. And whenever you mow your lawn, please try re-applying the repellant.
7. Seek professional help
If you don’t have time to start implementing techniques to prevent geese from trespassing into your lawn, seek professional help. However, ensure the professional you’re hiring has the needed experience.
Let the professional discuss the suggested techniques that will bring a permanent solution to the problem with you. It will enable you to make an informed decision.
8. Mount geese repelling lighthouses
Some lighthouses repel geese. Another incredible thing is that these lighthouses will add beauty to your lawn and property.
Furthermore, you can choose to mount the lighthouses how you want to. The lighthouses also come with stakes, making it impossible to take them off the ground.
Another unique thing is that the light is solar-powered and flashes now and then, making it impossible for geese to sleep.
9. Install predator decoys
Go online and purchase life-like decoys. You’ll be saying your goodbyes to geese after mounting the decoys on your yard.
Examples of decoys you can use are:
- Coyote
- Dead geese
- Alligator head
- Fake dog
All these decoys can scare geese away. But ensure they aren’t static. If they remain motionless for long, it would only be a matter of time before the geese realize. When that happens, they won’t be scared anymore.
10. Install a motion-activated sprinkler
If you’re ready to make a financial commitment and effectively chase geese away, install the motion-activated sprinkler on your lawn.
This device is harmless to the geese. It sprays only water. However, geese boast unconditional love for the water. Nonetheless, the one reason why this technique is effective is that geese don’t like it when water lands on their skin.
If you’re going with the motion-activated sprinkler, consider installing more than one to get more coverage.
11. Deploy reflective objects
Having reflective objects in your yard can help to scare geese away. It will give them the idea that something isn’t quite right about your yard, forcing them to retreat.
But like predator decoys, geese can become familiar with your reflective decorations. The only easy way to outsmart them is to change the reflective objects now and then.
12. Utilize sound-activated strobe lights
The fact that these lights reflect into homes via the windows is a concern for many people. But this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker if you’re serious about keeping geese at bay. You can block the portion of the light facing your house, and you won’t experience this problem anymore.
Two types of strobe lights exist. One happens to be sound-activated. The lights remain off, but when geese come close, it comes on automatically. The second is the lights that you can turn on throughout the night.
13. Have your pond gridded with meshes or wires
We all know that geese don’t joke with water. So, if you have a pond nearby, you could be seeing them now and then. From the pond, they can move to your lawn and have it messed up. So, take action. Have your pond gridded with meshes or wires.
But keep in mind that you can only do this for smaller ponds. Additionally, it’s advisable to deploy other geese deterrent techniques alongside the pond’s gridding.
14. Take action at the right time
If you’re trying to chase geese away, one thing you should never take for granted is timing. Timing is everything. That’s because there are stages when it would become more challenging to chase the geese away.
A good example is when the geese have built nests, have eggs in their nest, or already have goslings. At this stage, chasing the birds away will be an arduous task. You may have to wait until they have had their flight feathers replaced.
15. Take advantage of their water fondness
If you have ponds or lakes around your property, consider planting shrubs around them. Even if the plants are only two feet tall, they’ll scare the geese away.
Geese enjoy being in a space where they can view every corner. So, being in the midst of shrubs would make them feel unsafe. They wouldn’t know whether a predator has laid an ambush for them or not. So, the best thing for the birds would be to avoid the area.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the 15 clever ways to keep geese out of your yard. Some of the techniques highlighted in this post involve a little investment. But that’s the least you can do to keep your lawn in top shape.
Geese can cause massive damage to a lawn. Their droppings also pose a severe health risk for your kids. So, do everything within your power to keep them at bay. You can deploy one or combine techniques listed here to accomplish that.