Prevent geese from pooping in your yard by scaring them off with loud noises and bright, bird-repelling pinwheels. If you live in an area where using noise to scare off geese will upset your neighbors, you can put up a goose fence. Geese prefer to walk rather than fly short distances, so even a small fence can drastically reduce the number of geese that poop in your yard. Natural goose repellents can also be used to drive away these messy birds. You may want to consider getting outside help if dealing with geese known for their aggressive behavior. Canadian geese in particular are known for being vicious and somewhat dangerous.
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5 Ways to Stop Geese from Pooping in Your Yard
Geese are migratory birds with a penchant for occupying bodies of water. Goose droppings can lead to contaminated water quickly so it’s imperative you get rid of geese as quickly as possible. Canadian geese poop in particular is an extreme health hazard. Below, we’ll get into some of the best tips for ridding your yard of the dreaded Canada goose.
Scare the Geese Away
Loud noises like an air horn can make geese afraid to come into your yard. You can even scare geese off by running towards them while shouting. Barking noises can be especially effective at keeping geese off your yard since dogs are a natural predator of geese.
- Loud noises are a great goose deterrent.
- Air horns, shouting, and barking dogs will all scare geese off your lawn.
- Visual deterrents like these bird blinder repellent pinwheels also deter geese from entering your yard.
A visual deterrent at key locations can also drive away the Canada goose. An ornamental bird blinder pinwheel can scare a Canada goose away by mimicking a strobe light. The wheel catches light reflections and flashes them back as it spins. Geese don’t like flashing lights and will steer clear of these pinwheels.
Remove Bird Feeders
If you have any bird feeders or birdseed in your yard, remove it immediately. Generally, a Canada goose is looking for food and a place to rest when it comes to your yard. The droppings they leave behind are a byproduct of them finding a food source in your yard. If you take away the food by removing bird feed from your yard, you remove one incentive for invading geese.
- Remove bird feeders or outdoor bird feed from your yard to make it less attractive to geese.
- Make sure no goose food sources are present in your yard.
- Consider distracting geese from your yard by setting up bird feeders on another part of your property.
Setting up bird feeders away from your property can also distract geese from coming to your yard. However, this could just lead to the feeders causing a nuisance for someone else’s yard. It’s usually best to remove the feeders entirely.
Put up a Goose Fence
Adult geese are surprisingly lazy and don’t often fly into yards. They prefer to walk to conserve their energy. Thus a small fence can easily deter them from wandering onto your property and pooping on your lawn.
- Protect your property with a fence that is at least 1 foot (30 cm) tall to repel geese.
- Most geese will not fly to hop over a fence, so they will simply walk somewhere else.
- Place the fence around any bodies of water on your property to keep geese on the water and off your yard.
A goose-repellent fence only needs to be about 12 inches (30 cm) high to be effective. If you have a pond on your property, put a fence around it. This will encourage the geese to stay on the water and the shore instead of walking into your yard. You can also combine the fence with a bird blinder repellent pinwheel to get even better results.
Use Goose Repellent
Liquid goose deterrents are another great option for keeping geese from leaving their droppings in your yard. Organic repellent for waterfowl can be safely spread over your plants to keep waterfowl away. The entire process is easy to do. Just follow these steps:
- Use this non-toxic goose repellent.
- Follow product label instructions for the ratio of goose repellent to water.
- Add the goose repellent to a pump sprayer, like this one.
- Add the specified amount of water to the pump sprayer.
- Spray your lawn, garden, and other areas to keep geese away.
There are even some home products that work as goose repellents. The grape flavoring in Kool-Aid contains methyl anthranilate, a harmless compound that geese hate. So, you can mix up some grape Kool-Aid in your pump sprayer and apply it to your yard to keep geese from pooping there.
Call in Outside Help
Do you know who will never get tired of protecting your yard from geese? Man’s best friend. Medium-sized dogs like border collies love to chase off geese. If you’ve got the space for a dog (plus the time and energy to care for one) they’ll be an incredibly effective ally in your fight against geese. If you can’t own a dog though, you don’t even need to have a real one for them to be effective though. A fake animal image can often be enough to give a single goose second thoughts about coming into your yard. Placing cutouts or decoys of predatory animals throughout your yard will ward off geese.
- Geese are naturally afraid of canines and will avoid homes with dogs.
- Dogs are extremely effective goose-deterrents because they love to chase geese away.
- If you don’t have a dog, you can use a cutout or this coyote decoy to scare off geese.
- Nested geese may require a goose removal service to be fully pushed out
A goose removal service can be another effective solution for getting rid of these pesky birds. If a goose population shows aggressive nesting behavior, this may be the only effective removal solution. These experts can break up a nest and keep the nest away permanently. This option is especially recommended when dealing with aggressive species like Canadian geese.
What is the Best Repellent for Geese?
There are many commercially available repellents that can work for driving away geese. Bird B Gone, Bird-X Bird Repellent, and Flight Control® are some of the many options available. Any of these can be an effective option depending on your needs.
- Flight Control goose repellent is the top-rated goose-stopper.
- No liquid repellent will ever be as effective as having a dog on property
However, none of these are 100% effective. The best goose repellent is an active dog that is large enough to scare a goose. Since owning dogs is not a workable solution for everyone though, Flight Control is the most effective of the liquid-repellent options. It is a humane and odorless grass treatment that works year-round.
What Smell Do Geese Hate?
Geese hate the smell of methyl anthranilate more than anything else. Methyl anthranilate is a chemical that naturally occurs in grape juice and is often used as an artificial grape flavoring.
- Methyl anthranilate is the scent that irritates geese the most.
- A repellent with methyl anthranilate will cause irritation of the eyes and throat in geese but won’t affect pets or children
Grape flavor methyl anthranilate irritates a goose’s eyes and throat while any other animal will just smell grape. This makes it an effective pet-safe deterrent. Simply spread this compound on your grass and the unpleasant smell should drive away geese soon. Spread extra near potential nesting sites to ensure no geese make a home on your property.
Does Grape Kool-Aid Keep Geese Away?
Grape Kool-Aid absolutely helps to keep geese away. This flavor of Kool-Aid is chock full of methyl anthranilate which is the smell geese hate the most. It is also quite cheap and readily available making it an affordable geese repellent. Use this big canister of grape Kool-Aid to keep geese off your lawn. You can mix up a batch of kool-aid in a pump sprayer and apply it to your lawn to drive geese off.
How to Keep Geese from Pooping on Your Property
Goose droppings are a serious health hazard that must be avoided at all costs. Bird control experts advise a number of simple steps for making your yard an unattractive spot for geese to visit. Here are some of the most effective tips to keep geese out of your yard:
- Employ loud noises and flashing pinwheels to scare geese away.
- A short fence can prevent geese from walking onto your property.
- Official repellents like Bird B Gone and Flight Control can drive geese away.
- Grape Kool-Aid is a cheap repellent substitute you can spray on your yard.
- Geese hate methyl anthranilate which is found in grape Kool-Aid.
- Getting a dog or calling in a goose removal service can work wonders.
Remember that geese and other waterfowl are very aggressive birds. If you find they are terrorizing you or your loved ones, please call in professional help. That is the safest way to deal with these aquatic birds if they have proven to be a danger.
