So, what can I do about geese on my shoreline property?

By Andrea LaMoreaux, NH LAKES Education Director

“So, what can I do about the geese on my shoreline property?” This is one of the most common questions I am asked during the summer when I travel around the state to talk with lake associations about how they can better protect, and improve, the health of their lake.

It seems that Canada Geese are becoming a more and more common sight around New Hampshire’s approximately 1,000 lakes and ponds. While these beautiful birds typically migrate in the fall, isolated populations may reside along New Hampshire’s shorelines year round. In the spring, usually in March and April, these birds nest near the shorelines of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, and lay approximately three to six eggs per nest. It has been reported that a single goose can live more than 24 years and can weigh approximately 12 pounds!

Canada Geese can pollute the lake and can make you sick!

Believe it or not, biologists have discovered that one goose can consume up to four pounds of grass per day, creating about three pounds of fecal matter daily! This fecal matter makes grassy areas and beaches along the shoreline unappealing and, even worse, pollutes nearby waterbodies by accelerating the growth of plants and algae blooms. In addition, this fecal matter can make those who recreate in the polluted waterbodies sick by introducing the swimmer’s itch organismand E. coli bacteria into the water and by possibly causing toxic cyanobacteria blooms in the waterbody to become more frequent and severe. For these reasons, you should avoid contact and ingestion of water in areas frequented by geese.

If you have a goose problem, here is what you should do.

You need to make your property less attractive to geese. Luckily, the most simple and most effective thing you can do is also the healthiest thing you can do for your lake-plant a vegetated buffer consisting of native shrubs and bushes on your property along the entire shoreline. Geese love a mowed, lush lawn that leads right up to the edge of the lake. They prefer to hang out on the lawn and eat grass while having easy access to the water in case a predator (such as yourself or your dog!) comes down the hill. This vegetation will not only obstruct the bird’s view of the lake from your property, its roots will reduce the amount of soil erosion occurring along the shoreline and will reduce the amount of storm-water runoff from your property which pollutes the lake. If you need help constructing a vegetated buffer contact NH LAKES-our Lake Conservation Corps’ Program may be able to help!

If you must have grass, keep it at least six inches high. If you find any nesting material on your property, as long as it isn’t being actively used, remove it. (You’ll need a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to tamper with an active nest with eggs or young in it. For more information, visit www.fws.gov and/or call the Concord, NH, office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at (603-223-6832.)

And, of course, if you are feeding the geese, you must stop!

Other things you can do.

In addition to creating vegetative buffers, implement two or more of the strategies listed below to make your property unattractive to geese:

• Create barriers between the grass and the water. The barrier can be as simple as a piece of string that they can not step over or walk under. Snow fences also work well.
• Spray your lawn with methyl anthranilate (a registered chemical that is a derivative of grape-juice and acts as a bird repellent); the chemical will give the grass an unpleasant taste making the grass undesirable to eat.
• Install an overhead grid wire to prevent the geese from landing and nesting in that area.
• While many agencies recommend using noise harassment (propane canons, starter pistols, air horns, recorded predator noises), unless your neighbors live very far away, NH LAKES does not recommend this management technique. Instead, consider using a solar powered flashing light which simulates the eye reflection of predators and disrupts the geese’s ability to sleep. Geese may no longer consider the area “safe” and may move to another suitable area.
• Dogs may also deter geese from landing or roosting on your property. A barking dog guarding the property may be effective.

For more information.

Visit the following websites: www.awaywithgeese.com, www.canadagoosemanagement.com and www.canadageese.org/nlcontrol.html.