GOOSE MANAGEMENT
A DIRTY MESS
Each adult goose produces 3-4 lbs of nasty goose feces per day. An average flock of twenty geese will produce over 60 lbs a day! That is enough to fill a bushel basket! In addition to being unsightly in public areas such as parks and golf courses, it creates a health risk to both humans and pets. Goose droppings often contains the parasites, cryptosporidium, giardia, coliform, and campylobacter. Crytosporidium poses the most serious health hazard, since it causes a serious intestinal disease called cryptosporidiosis. The best way to avoid these disease risks is to properly manage your flock of geese.
Predator Impact can Mitigate geese issues using Humane methods
|
Predator Impact is proud to have a "No Kill" policy on all geese. Your geese are managed in a way that allows them to either peacefully live in close proximity to you, or to be relocated to a place where they can live out their lives as wild geese, well away from people. This helps your customers or residents feel better about the goose management program knowing that the geese are being moved, or managed, not euthanized.
|
|
Golf Course SPECIALISTS
We have developed some unique methods to address the special needs of golf courses. We are sensitive to the fact that some golfers love the geese, and we are always careful in handling them to be respectful of your customer's feelings.
In addition, we recognize that you are a business and if we interrupt tee times, we are costing you money. We have developed methods of conducting goose roundups in the late evening, or at night, so that we don't interfere with your paying customers, and we are always mindful of the landscaping, especially the tee boxes and greens.
In addition, we recognize that you are a business and if we interrupt tee times, we are costing you money. We have developed methods of conducting goose roundups in the late evening, or at night, so that we don't interfere with your paying customers, and we are always mindful of the landscaping, especially the tee boxes and greens.
|
|
Population control
Geese and their nests are protected by Federal Law, but Predator Impact, LLC has the proper licenses and permits to offer you several options for population control
Nesting goose management
Geese have a habit of nesting in the most inconvenient places, and the adults can be very aggressive if they feel that their nest is threatened. We had a customer who had a senior resident attacked by a goose that believed it was defending its nest. It knocked her down and put her into the hospital! We were able to teach it some manners, and that goose is now a model citizen.
Options for goose nest management:
- We can physically remove the nests and force the adults to re-nest in another, more secluded location.
- We can use operant conditioning to teach the geese to respect humans and reduce the aggressive behavior.
- After March 11th of each year, our permits allow us to capture aggressive adults using nets, or traps, and relocate them to another location. They seldom return, and are never as aggressive without a nest to defend.
"birth" control
There are time when you don't want to eliminate the geese on your property, but you don't want the population growing either. Egg addling is birth control for geese.
If the goose nest is removed or the eggs destroyed, but the adult geese are left, they will simply re-nest in a more secluded location and the population continues to grow. A better solution is egg addling. A treatment is applied to the eggs that stops them from developing, but the adults will continue to incubate them through out the summer. By the time the nesting season is over and their hormones shift, the adults walk happily away from the nest and inactive eggs. There will be no young from that pair for the year.
If the goose nest is removed or the eggs destroyed, but the adult geese are left, they will simply re-nest in a more secluded location and the population continues to grow. A better solution is egg addling. A treatment is applied to the eggs that stops them from developing, but the adults will continue to incubate them through out the summer. By the time the nesting season is over and their hormones shift, the adults walk happily away from the nest and inactive eggs. There will be no young from that pair for the year.
Removal & relocation
SELECTIVE REMOVAL
Some customers like a few geese on their property, but their numbers quickly get out of hand. You can specify how many geese are to be removed from your property and we can remove the exact number you would like and leave the rest.
AGGRESSIVE INDIVIDUAL REMOVAL
Some customers want to keep their geese, but there may be one or more of the males that are too aggressive, especially if they nest near a building entrance or walkway. We can capture one of the pair and remove the nest. This immediately stops all aggression.
PAIR SPLITTING
Prior to the June round up season, it is often desirable to reduce the number of nesting geese on a property. We can capture one or both of the adults and remove the nest. The captured birds are relocated to our wildlife sanctuary in rural Nowata County. Both birds quickly find new mates, but the total population is reduced.
|
GOOSE ROUNDUP
There is nothing that an Oklahoman likes better than a good roundup, and that goes for Canada geese too! From the first week of June to the middle of July, geese all drop their flight feathers at the same time and are flightless until new ones regrow. They can walk, run, and swim, but they cannot fly. During this six week window when they are flightless, the majority of the population of both adults and goslings can be rounded up and herded into specially designed trailers. They are then then transported to distant lakes designated by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife where they spend the rest of the summer growing new flight feathers. By the time they can fly again, most of the adults and all of the goslings will have "re-homed" to the new location. |
|
The legal window for rounding up geese is much longer than the period during which they are flightless. We can legally relocate geese from March 11th through August 31st, however they are only flightless in June and part of July. For the time before and after the flightless period, we can still relocate your problem geese using rocket nets. The geese are fed for a day or two ahead of time to get them used to congregating in a set location, and then captured using the rocket net. This method allows us to relocate roughly 90% of your problem geese at any time in the legal window, even though they are fully capable of flight. The video below show a similar net being used to harmlessly capture and band geese in Oregon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What about permits?
Federal and/or state permits are required for egg addling, nest destruction and the physical removal of geese. These permits are complicated and expensive, but we handle all the permitting and reporting for you.
Which approach will work best for my situation?
There is no “one size fits all” solution. Each solution is unique and Predator Impact, LLC. has the tools and experience for any situation. We will be happy to meet with you at no cost, do an on-site survey and discuss options with you.
Will they come back?
Virtually none of the geese that are relocated from your property will come back, however, the same features that made your property attractive to geese before may continue to attract them. We will help you determine what changes can be made to discourage geese, or in some situations, we may need to plan occasional visits to discourage newcomers. It is much easier to repel newly arrived geese than it is geese that have been settled for a long time.
Please note that if there are other properties nearby that have geese, they may spread into your property once we remove your geese. The best analogy is that of having your apartment exterminated for roaches, but the neighboring apartment still has them. It is possible that they will migrate into your area. If possible, it is best to treat all properties in close proximity at the same time.
Does it hurt to feed the geese?
Nothing encourages geese to stay in an area more than feeding them. If they are already used to being fed, we can use that to our advantage to bring them into a trap or rocket net, but if they are not used to being fed, don’t allow people to feed them. That only makes it harder to get them to leave.
What about all the goose poop left behind?
One of our services is to pressure wash any sidewalks or patio areas at your request. Goose droppings in grassy areas break down quickly in the rain and are usually not a concern.
Will this disrupt my business?
Again, there isn’t a one-size fits all answer. We will work with you to minimize the interference with your business. Perhaps limiting activities to after dark, or low business hours. We will work with you to find a solution. Most of our goose abatement can be done at night when there are no golfers on the golf course. Other than the rocket nets, our methods are very quiet (no cannons or noise makers), so that neighbors aren't disturbed at all during the day, and only by our lights at night.
I thought geese mated for life?
It is a common misconception that geese mate for life. They will mate for life if it is convenient. Adult geese have about a 40% annual mortality rate due to predators, hunters, accidents, disease, etc. This means that about 40% of the pairs lose one or more partners every year. If they didn't take another mate, the species would soon go extinct.
The truth is that if we relocate one of a pair of geese and remove the nest, both of the adults will pair up with another mate within a few days.
Federal and/or state permits are required for egg addling, nest destruction and the physical removal of geese. These permits are complicated and expensive, but we handle all the permitting and reporting for you.
Which approach will work best for my situation?
There is no “one size fits all” solution. Each solution is unique and Predator Impact, LLC. has the tools and experience for any situation. We will be happy to meet with you at no cost, do an on-site survey and discuss options with you.
Will they come back?
Virtually none of the geese that are relocated from your property will come back, however, the same features that made your property attractive to geese before may continue to attract them. We will help you determine what changes can be made to discourage geese, or in some situations, we may need to plan occasional visits to discourage newcomers. It is much easier to repel newly arrived geese than it is geese that have been settled for a long time.
Please note that if there are other properties nearby that have geese, they may spread into your property once we remove your geese. The best analogy is that of having your apartment exterminated for roaches, but the neighboring apartment still has them. It is possible that they will migrate into your area. If possible, it is best to treat all properties in close proximity at the same time.
Does it hurt to feed the geese?
Nothing encourages geese to stay in an area more than feeding them. If they are already used to being fed, we can use that to our advantage to bring them into a trap or rocket net, but if they are not used to being fed, don’t allow people to feed them. That only makes it harder to get them to leave.
What about all the goose poop left behind?
One of our services is to pressure wash any sidewalks or patio areas at your request. Goose droppings in grassy areas break down quickly in the rain and are usually not a concern.
Will this disrupt my business?
Again, there isn’t a one-size fits all answer. We will work with you to minimize the interference with your business. Perhaps limiting activities to after dark, or low business hours. We will work with you to find a solution. Most of our goose abatement can be done at night when there are no golfers on the golf course. Other than the rocket nets, our methods are very quiet (no cannons or noise makers), so that neighbors aren't disturbed at all during the day, and only by our lights at night.
I thought geese mated for life?
It is a common misconception that geese mate for life. They will mate for life if it is convenient. Adult geese have about a 40% annual mortality rate due to predators, hunters, accidents, disease, etc. This means that about 40% of the pairs lose one or more partners every year. If they didn't take another mate, the species would soon go extinct.
The truth is that if we relocate one of a pair of geese and remove the nest, both of the adults will pair up with another mate within a few days.
DROP US A LINE
Get in touch with us today to eliminate your pest problem!