Having a lawn can be a great addition to your house. It adds value, provides a place for your family to relax in, and is also a target for groups of geese. If you don’t properly maintain your lawn, chances are your grass will be destroyed within days.
To prevent this from happening, we have created this article. We’re here to answer the question “How To Keep Geese Off Your Lawn?”. With the tips presented, you’ll have a clearer insight into how geese act and what you can do to remove them.
By the end of this article, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge needed to protect your lawn. While geese may seem intimidating at first, you’ll have the confidence needed to keep them away. Now let’s get started!
Ways To Keep Geese Out Of Your Lawn
Don’t Feed the Geese!
Sometimes we leave bread crumbs and other debris on the ground in our lawns. While this is normal, this one action can lead to more geese swarming into your backyard. The geese will view your property as a food source, and more will flock in until you clean the area.
Also, make sure to remove garbage from your front yard. If there are more than 3+ geese, apply goose repellent to prevent the geese from being attracted to the grass. That way, you’ll set up a defensive barrier and protect your backyard from furth geese infestations.
Create Geese Decoys
Place a decoy such as a fake alligator or a plastic goose head to keep the geese away. You can also use swivels since they have a more realistic appearance. While decoys are a short-term solution, the geese will become used to them over time.
Make a Fence
Geese tend to flock around large, open spaces. You can reduce their walking proximity by placing a fence around your lawn. This could be enough to make them bored and frequent other areas.
Making a fence can be expensive and time-consuming, and it creates a restriction on your lawn. You should use it for serious circumstances, especially if you don’t want your pets to stay confined in your yard.
Get Professional Assistance
For severe geese infestations, you’ll need to get professional assistance. Not all of them specialize in geese removal, but some will. Professional geese removers use refined techniques and repellents to end the geese problem.
Speaking to a professional will be expensive, but it requires less frustration and stress. Geese can be stubborn and flock more often if you have food on your lawn. So getting them is a great way to get your lawn back to normal.
Using professional geese removers is the most efficient way to remove them. You’ll have a past record of geese removal without having to do everything yourself. This could be worth the initial price, as it is more convenient to keep them off your lawn permanently.
Chicken Wire
Like fencing, chicken wire creates a small boundary for the geese. The difference is that once the geese reach the chicken wire, it will keep them out of your yard. There is a possibility that the geese might not notice the wire and become stuck.
Be mindful of your other pets before installing chicken wire on your lawn. Having your pets stuck in a chicken wire isn’t a fun experience. Also, the chicken wire does look unappealing visually, so plan out your lawn area before installing it.
How Do You Repel Geese Naturally?
Chase Geese Off Your Property
As easy as it sounds, you can chase geese off your property. Start by grabbing a broom or a baseball bat and start chasing after them. When chasing after geese, check for signs of aggression. Continue to chase the geese off your lawn consistently until they realize your backyard is not a safe place to stay in.
Grow the Grass
While it doesn’t make your lawn look appealing, allowing your grass to grow 6-7 inches taller is a natural way to keep them off your lawn. Geese like to walk in open spaces because they keep predators away.
Geese dislike tall grass because it makes them feel unsafe. When they are unsafe, the geese will leave for another destination.
If there is a pond on your lawn, allow your grass to grow up to 20 inches to keep them away from the area. You should also reduce the amount of fertilizer you’ll use as well.
Buy a Dog
Geese are afraid of dogs and other canines (i.e., wolves and coyotes). While dogs are specialized at getting geese out of your lawn, specific breeds do this task more effectively.
For instance, the Border Collie is known for attacking Canada Geese. Not only will they scare them away, but also indirectly tell the geese that your lawn is not a safe place to return.
That’s because Border Collies don’t playfully approach geese like a Beagle. Alternatively, you can have dogs such as the Australian Cattle Shepherd or German Shepherd.
German Shepherds are smart, and you can train them to remove geese from your lawn. They can follow your instructions quickly and will bark at the geese if they threaten them.
On the other hand, an Australian Shepherd is more persistent. No matter how many geese are on your lawn, they will still chase after them. Known for having a lot of stamina, the Australian Shepherd will chase the geese all day if needed.
Fix The Landscape Of Your Lawn
Did you know that how you landscape your lawn can either attract or repel geese? Geese have good vision, but they tend to avoid areas with tall grass. By planning out a proper landscape plan, you can reduce the number of geese harming your lawn.
For example, you can plant trees to prevent them from flying to the grazing areas. However, this method only works once the tree has grown for a few years.
When landscaping, try to add as many shrubs, hedges, and bushes as possible. Once completed, the geese will avoid your lawn within a few hours.
How to Deter Geese from Your Property
Audio and Visual Deterrents
The first natural repellants you should look for are audio and visual deterrents. Lakefront properties and golf clubs are difficult to control geese swarms because they need geese repellents to cover a large area. To naturally repel geese, have a visual deterrent as a coyote in your backyard.
Coyotes are natural predators for geese. To fully scare them off, move the coyote decoy around periodically to make the geese uncomfortable. Doing so will help you keep them off your property, but you’ll need more than just visual decoys to get the job done.
For the best results, pair your visual deterrents with audio deterrents. When you combine two different forms of geese deterrent, you increase the probability of them leaving your lawn.
Audio deterrents work by using a combination of bird calls and predator animal calls to scare them off. You can use either plugin audio deterrents or solar-powered deterrents. If you are trying to remove geese from a large lawn, then using solar-powered deterrents is the best option.
Strobe Lights
To protect your lawn from geese, you can use strobe lights. Two types of repellents are available. Sound activated repellants work by making a loud sound to scare away the geese when they are moving towards the device.
Alternatively, you could have a strobe light stay on throughout the night. While it can be a nuisance if you place it next to your home, if you can cover the sides so the light won’t enter the windows, it will do the job correctly.
Like with any geese deterrents, there are some disadvantages when using strobe lights. The light will attract a multitude of bugs and mosquitos to your lawn. Fortunately, there are customizable strobe lights available. They allow you to set the time when they work and the intervals on how they work too. Doing this will also reduce the chances of having insects attacking your lawn.
Are Geese Bad For Your Lawn?
If left unattended, geese can do a lot of damage to your lawn. First, geese tend to eat grass, so they will destroy your flowers and plants if you don’t deter them quickly.
Geese tend to nest around March to May. The baby geese hatch afterward and take around 2-3 months to show flying signs. The adult geese lose their feathers when molting, usually around June and July. Geese need to have water to raise their offspring, and if your lawn has water, it’s a prime target for geese breeding.
To protect your lawn from geese, block their access to the waterways. Create a barrier around the water or create a fence that’s 18 inches tall. That way, you can keep your lawn safe from future geese swarms.
How To Stop Geese Pooping In Your Yard
Imagine going to your lawn and seeing it filled with geese excrement. While this can be a scary sight to see, if you are diligent at removing the poop and scaring the geese off, it will occur less frequently over time.
Geese excrement can degrade the quality of your yard. On average, one goose can drop 2-4 pounds of waste a day. Once the geese population increases, the abundance of waste will destroy the grass permanently.
While it’s okay to have a few geese around, 20 geese multiplied by 4 pounds of waste (over 80 pounds of poop a day) can spell doom to any yard. So that’s why you’ll have to chase them out of your lawn to ensure this never happens.
Studies have shown that geese poop contains bacteria, human pathogens, and parasites. Goose feces on the ground or in the water is a major concern.
This is a major concern in residential properties because pets and children play in those areas. In addition, they are more likely to be exposed to unexpected diseases. The most common forms of transmission are through beach water and drinking pond water.
With some of the previous methods mentioned, you can prevent geese from pooping in your yard. If you do notice any poop on your lawn, grab a scoop tool and place it in the trash. Make sure to do this frequently until either the geese are permanently removed or there’s no more poop left on the lawn.
Geese Behavior
Geese act aggressively towards people, especially when they feel threatened. Geese attacks occur every year, and they attack via biting or scratching. If bitten, you can expect injuries ranging from minor scratches to broken bones.
When geese are walking on land, they graze on grass as a food source. As a result, they will eat a lot of grass throughout the day. Make sure to protect your grass from geese, or else it will become sparse over time.
If you notice any geese in your yard, don’t engage without having something to scare them. By doing this, you protect yourself from getting bitten and further keep your lawn safe.
F.A.Q
What Smell Do Geese Hate?
Liquid detergents are a great way to get geese out of your garden. Geese hate the smell of methyl anthranilate, which is a chemical that’s found in grape juice. When in use, the chemical irritates the nerves in the geese’s eyes, throat, and beak, while other animals only smell grape.
Methyl anthranilate can be sprayed on grass, but it has to be reapplied consistently. When facing weather conditions such as rain, add more of the chemical on the grass to prevent geese from reappearing.
Does Purple Kool-Aid Deter Geese?
Yes. Grape flavored kool-aid can actually keep geese from your garden. In fact, the Humane Society recommends using grape-flavored kool-aid as a short-term solution.
To do so, apply a few liters of kool-aid on the ground. While the kool-aid won’t harm the geese, they will find it repulsive. In fact, Kool-Aid also contains methyl anthranilate, making it great for those who want to clear their lawn from multiple geese.
