While passing geese are fun to watch, geese residing on your property can quickly become a nuisance. When that happens, goose control, including humane harassment can be effective.
Geese are known to increase in population density in the state of Virginia in the winter months due to their migration patterns; however, Virginia has become home to more and more “resident” geese. Resident geese are geese that stay in one location year-round and do not migrate. Populations of resident geese are becoming more and more common due to urban/suburban sprawl providing them with year-round food and water sources that make it unnecessary for them to migrate.
While considered an attractive bird by most, once a flock reaches a certain size, the mess associated with their feces, and the zoonotic implications, along with the destruction of grasses and vegetation, can become quite the headache.
Are geese a protected animal? Yes, the Canada (or Canadian) goose is a commonly known migratory bird species that falls under the protection of the Federal Migratory Bird Act. For this reason, its control and mitigation are limited to certain methods. Harassing geese, removing geese via a roundup, and other geese control methods are highly regulated and must be done under the purview of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA.
If geese have become an issue for your property or home, please call us at 844.WILDPRO if you live in the Staunton, Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Lexington, Covington, Roanoke, Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Charlottesville, Ruckersville, Lovingston, or Richmond areas.
The most common form of damage that Blue Ridge Wildlife & Fisheries Management, LLC receives calls on for geese is the mess they leave behind. Once a flock is present on a property, defecation can accumulate rapidly because each goose can defecate up to two pounds per day.
Unsightly feces appears on lawns, sidewalks, driveways, walking paths, and parking lots. It presents not only a zoonotic health risk but also a fall-and-slip hazard.
In addition to leaving behind a large mess, geese can rapidly remove grasses and vegetation in golf-course and landscaping settings, along with corn, soybeans, and other crops in agricultural settings.
One solution is what is known as “goose harassment,” which deters the geese from staying in one place. “Roundups” are another solution. If geese have become an issue for your property or home, please call us at 844.WILDPRO if you live in the Staunton, Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Lexington, Covington, Roanoke, Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Charlottesville, Ruckersville, Lovingston, or Richmond areas.
Any form of goose removal would have to be done under issued permits by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, unless it was done by licensed hunters in season.
Roundups are a common form of goose removal once a permit has been issued. Roundups are typically done near the end of July once geese have hatched their young and are molting. During this timeframe, geese are flightless and can easily be corralled into a single pen and removed all at once. However, typically solutions such as this are not permitted unless goose harassment has been tried first.
There are multiple types of harassment. A more common one is the use of Flight Control. This is a chemical that makes geese view the grass as a different color, and once they have eaten it they become sick. After this, they view the grass they see in the different color as bad for them and stay clear of those areas. This chemical has to be reapplied periodically to maintain its effectiveness. Here at Blue Ridge Wildlife & Fisheries Management, LLC, we are a chemical-free company so this is not a service that we offer. However, if you believe this is the right service for you, we do know reputable companies that can perform it and we would be happy to get you in touch with them.
Trained dogs, drones, or goosinators are forms of goose control that can be highly effective. Anytime controls in this manner are being used, the dogs being used or the techs running the drones must be highly trained to avoid injuring geese. This is a service we offer, and it is quite labor intensive. In order for a harassment plan to work correctly, the goose harassment needs to take place on varying days and varying times throughout the year, and in some cases year round. Geese imprint where they learn to fly, so if a harassment plan is in place long enough, then it is possible to completely eliminate the problem over time.
Habitat modification is another way to reduce the presence of geese in certain areas. Reducing their walking paths or ingress/egress to water sources is an excellent way to deter geese away from certain areas.
Addling eggs is the final option. This can be done during the early stages of nesting, in which case eggs are oiled to prevent them from progressing further. This leads to no new generation for that given year. If addling is chosen, understand that it will take multiple years before any real results are seen.
If geese have become an issue for your property or home, please feel free to call us at 844.WILDPRO if you live in or near Staunton, Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Lexington, Covington, Roanoke, Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Charlottesville, Ruckersville, Lovingston or Richmond.
- The goose is a large bird with a black neck, grey breast, black wingtips, and white marks on the face.
- Adults weigh up to 24 pounds.
- Geese lay eggs in April-June with a 28 incubation period; typically, 4-8 survive.
Interested in Goose Control?
Call 844-WILDPRO or 844-945-3776 today or fill out this form and someone will be in touch shortly.
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Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro
109 Shirey Rd
Staunton, VA 24401 (540) 520-0474
Charlottesville, Ruckersville, Scottsville, Free Union
243 Ridge McIntire Rd #1018
Charlottesville, VA 22903 (434) 422-4024
Roanoke, Bedford, Blacksburg, Covington, Smith Mountain Lake, Lynchburg
4210 Electric Rd
Roanoke, VA 24018 (540) 682-7354
Richmond, Henrico, Midlothian (804) 210-3091
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