Canada Geese

Living with our Wild Neighbors in Urban

and Suburban Communities

May 2010

2100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
202.452.1100
humanesociety.org/wildneighbors
Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

The History

Once, Canada geese on a neighborhood pond were unusual. Now,

Canada geese are considered a nuisance in many communities. How
did this happen?

Decimated by hunting and habitat loss, the

giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis
maxima) rebounded after wildlife managers
found wild and captive flocks in the 1960s.
They bred birds in captivity and relocated
them throughout the U.S.

Giant geese aren’t strong migrants. Captive-

bred geese settled year-round in cities and
suburbs where expansive lawns, parks, golf
courses, and artificial ponds made perfect
goose habitats.

These resident flocks expanded, and by the mid-1980s, researchers

were studying the new phenomenon of “too many” geese. Conflicts
reached a point where the same state and federal agencies that had
propagated Canada geese called for killing them.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) objects to killing wild
animals simply because they are regarded as nuisances. And killing
will not solve the problem. The HSUS has helped many communities
resolve human-goose conflicts with more humane and effective
approaches. This guide offers a road map of these best practices for
living with Canada geese.

About Canada Geese

Canada geese are grazers and prefer grass, especially fertilized lawn
grass. They tend to forage in areas with open sight lines and access to
water where they can see and escape predators.

Mated geese pair off in late winter and defend preferred nesting sites—
those near water with a good view of the surrounding area—from other
geese. Geese strongly prefer to nest on islands and peninsulas and
tend to use the same nest site year after year. They will also
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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

sometimes nest in less than ideal places,

such as landscaped areas in parking lots,
planters next to busy building entrances,
or flat roofs.

Both parents defend the nest and goslings

until the young are 10 weeks old and can
fly. Within a day or two of hatching,
parents may lead goslings as far as two
miles to grass and water if their nest site
does not offer these.

Adult Canada geese molt (completely

replace flight feathers) each summer and
cannot fly during this six-week period.
After adults have completed the molt and young geese grow their
first flight feathers, they begin to travel in flocks. Resident Canada
geese usually move only short distances for the winter, but bad
weather can cause them to move hundreds of miles in search of
open water and forage.
In any interaction
with Canada Federal law protects Canada geese. It is illegal to harm geese, their
geese, do no harm eggs, or their nests in the United States without permission from
to geese, goslings,
the U.S. Fish and Wild Service (USFWS). Geese may be harassed or
scared away without a permit as long as the geese, goslings, eggs,
eggs, or even nests
and nests are not harmed. USFWS allows resident Canada goose
except as permit-
eggs to be treated to prevent hatching after simply registering
ted by the USFWS. online (details below).

About the Conflicts

Geese graze on lawns. And where geese graze, they also defecate,
raising the ire of people who use these areas. Sometimes, people
express concerns about health and safety as well.

Research has not found any significant health threats from

goose feces. However, people want to avoid contact with any
animal feces and abundant deposits on playing fields and in
high traffic areas make that difficult. In some places, geese
may cross roads or forage near roadsides, creating a potential
traffic hazard.
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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

Nesting geese and parents of goslings protect

their young. Approach a nest or family of
goslings and you will provoke defensive
reactions but rarely be attacked. When people
are injured, it nearly always results from a
startled person falling down rather than from
direct contact with a goose.

You Need a Plan

To design an effective plan:

• Examine how, when, and why geese are using the site.
• Select the best combination and timing of techniques to make your site less
attractive to geese.
• Develop a plan of how you will apply these techniques at your site.
• Implement your plan.
• Monitor how it works, adjusting where needed.

The goal is to reduce the nuisance to an acceptable level. It is not

possible, even if it were desirable, to eliminate geese from a community.
So, solutions need to address the specific conflicts and the sites on
which they are occurring—not attack all geese generally.

There is no single quick fix that will resolve human-goose conflicts at

every site. But well-designed integrated programs can resolve conflicts.

GeesePeace™, an organization dedicated to building better communities

through innovative, effective, and humane solutions to wildlife conflicts,
has developed an effective template that communities can adopt. This
can greatly simplify your planning. See Sources of Additional
Information, below, for contact.
Three Key Components
Synergy. Effective plans get synergy from combining two or • Curtailing Reproduction
three Key Components—curtailing reproduction, site aversion • Site Aversion
(harassing or scaring the geese to teach them the site is not
• Habitat Modification
safe), and habitat modification.

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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

Curtaining reproduction combined with strong, effective, well-timed site

aversion is the crux of most successful programs. When adult geese are
not tied to flightless goslings after the nesting season, these adults can
be harassed away from preferred foraging sites before summer brings
large numbers of people to those sites. And clearing open spaces of
goose concentrations—with their attendant droppings—prior to the mid
-summer molt eliminates the most significant conflicts.

Similarly, modifying habitat makes site aversion, especially with trained

dogs (more below), more effective by making geese feel less secure from
predators.

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Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

Effective goose management programs typically follow a seasonal timeline:

• December to March—Organize community, identify likely nesting sites, and

develop plan.
• February to March—Train volunteers or employees to addle.

• Late March and April to early May—Locate nests and addle.

• Mid-May to Mid-Summer (up to molt)—Harass adult geese so they leave

the site.
• Late June to August—Molt. Geese have to stay where they are. No
harassment. Repellents may be effective.
• Fall—Resume harassment, if needed.

• February to March—If harassment resumed in fall, stop it while geese

establish nest sites. You want to know where the nests are so you can
addle. Harassing geese away from nest sites can result in goslings hatched
nearby who contribute to the overall population and interfere with
pre-molt harassment.

Short–term versus Long-term. Once it is clear that Canada goose

issues need to be addressed, you should implement a long-term plan as
soon as feasible. While you are getting started, Supplementary Tools
and Techniques (below) may offer short-term relief.

Key Components
Anyone seeking to
curtail reproduc-
Curtail Reproduction. Limiting reproduction requires long-term
tion of any bird is
commitment to have significant impact on population size. But it
also reduces future nesting activity and makes site aversion more responsible for
effective. complying with all
applicable laws
Geese are often “philopatric”—when sexually mature, they return to and regulations
nest where they hatched. So, curtailing reproduction can mean including register-
fewer geese will nest at a given site in the future. The most ing with appropri-
immediate benefit from curtailing reproduction is adult geese are ate agencies and
not tied to rearing flightless goslings and can be readily convinced obtaining permits.
to leave.

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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

Addling commonly refers to any process by

which an egg ceases to be viable. Eggs can be
humanely addled by oiling, removing from the
nest, or replacing with dummy eggs.

For resident Canada geese, the USFWS allows

property owners and managers to addle after
simply registering online. But each state also
can regulate addling within its borders.
Check your state’s requirements. See
Sources of Additional Information, below, for
links to federal and state information.

Eggs must always be oiled or removed before embryo development is

too advanced to humanely stop development. Training is needed to
identify mated birds, find nests, and humanely treat or remove eggs.
See Sources of Additional Information, below.

A contraceptive, nicarbazin sold under the brand name OvoControl, is

registered to reduce hatching and manage populations humanely. To
use, you must have a federal permit and should check for state permit
requirements. A licensed pesticide applicator must feed it to the birds
daily.

Site Aversion. Site aversion—harassing or scaring geese away so they

learn your site is not a safe place—works better before geese become
strongly attached to a site. The longer geese have used a site, the
harder it will be to get them to move. Geese are
also more willing to relocate before they
establish nesting territories in early spring and
again after goslings are flighted in late summer.

Using techniques developed to manage

livestock, dogs are trained to harass geese.
Geese see the dogs as predators and avoid
them. Dogs handled properly put geese in flight
and the geese leave an area entirely. Handled
improperly they may only put the birds in the
water, where, if not pursued, they quickly learn
the dog is not a real threat.

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Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

Geese may leave when untrained and unhandled dogs roam a property
or when family pets give chase. But, there are concerns about this. If a
dog catches or harms a goose, it is a violation of federal law. If a dog
harasses geese who are defending nests or young, either the geese or
the dog may come to harm. Without training and handler direction,
these dogs will not be as effective and geese may habituate to dogs
used this way.

There are other site aversion tools. Some may be useful supplements
in specific, limited, short-term situations. See Supplemental Tools and
Techniques, below.

Habitat Modification. The goals are to reduce food, reduce preferred

nesting and brood-rearing areas, and increase the sense of wariness or
insecurity from danger. See Sources of Additional Information, below,
for complete details.

Reduce the total amount of lawn area and the amount of young shoots
geese prefer within lawn areas.
• Replace grass with other plantings or materials.
• Leave areas in grass to “naturalize”.
• End or reduce fertilizer use and
watering to reduce young
shoots.

Predators stay away from our

simplified landscapes that leave
them no cover for hunting. And,
lack of predators is one of the
things that attracts Canada geese
to these sites.

Reduce sight lines and limit

access to open water to increase
their wariness and make geese
less comfortable at a site. These
steps will also make site aversion
with dogs more effective.

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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

• Establish long grasses, shrubs, or other dense tall plants along

shorelines.
• Make shoreline plantings thick enough to discourage nesting.
• Fences, hedges, and a continuous band of emergent aquatic plants at
the shoreline can create a barrier.

Complementary Components

These complementary components can be very important contributors

to successful programs.

Tolerance Zones. Site aversion more easily convinces geese to leave

when attractive alternative sites are available. Identify and set aside
areas where geese can be tolerated and leave them undisturbed there.

Public Education. Understanding geese can help foster greater

tolerance. And, public education allows the people affected to play an
active role in decisions. Successful programs incorporate early, open,
and ongoing communication between managers and the public they
serve.

Stop Feeding. Geese will congregate where food is easy to find. So

more geese will stay more persistently where people offer handouts.

Canada geese do not need food from

humans. Even in severe weather,
these birds move considerable
distances to better forage when
necessary. Canada geese find
nutritionally appropriate food for
themselves.

If fed an inappropriate diet, such as

human foods and commercial poultry
feeds, young waterfowl are prone to
develop a wing deformity called angel
wing, slipped wing, or dropped wing.
This permanent deformity prevents or
limits flight—a very severe handicap
for a wild bird. Inappropriate food

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Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

can cause other, less obvious, problems by replacing nutritious food

with “empty calories” much like chips and candy for people.

Anti-feeding ordinances help raise public awareness and may limit

casual feeding. Often, people who care about the animals respond
more positively to explanations of the potential harm feeding can
cause the geese than to negative messages about the birds or the
threat of fines.

Supplemental Tools and Techniques

Supplemental tools and techniques won’t resolve conflicts alone.

They are most useful for short-term relief.

In limited, specific situations, they can be helpful additions to a well-designed

integrated program.

Supplemental Site Aversion. Devices and techniques to frighten

geese must seem threatening to the geese. Geese lose their fear of—or
habituate to—many devices and techniques with repeated use.
• Radio-controlled boats harass geese on water. Geese must be
effectively harassed on land as well, or they will simply get off the
water. Boats are less effective than dogs who swim after the geese
or are taken to the geese in a boat.
• Recordings of Canada goose distress calls may help convince geese
that a site is unsafe when used to reinforce other harassment.
Otherwise, geese may move only short distances.
• Canine effigies (coyote, wolf, or dog cutouts or 3D models) may
reinforce wariness where geese have reason to fear working goose-
dogs or wild canines. Frequently relocating effigies helps.
• Used under low light conditions or at night, lasers specifically
designed to harass geese cause the birds enough alarm that they
usually leave the site. Flashing or rotating strobe lights may achieve
the same goal of denying geese their night roost. You need to be
persistent so geese don’t simply wait you out.

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 Canada Geese—Living with our Wild Neighbors

• Methyl anthranilate repellent dispersed as a fog irritates geese so

they leave the area immediately. Since this physically irritates
geese, rather than frightening them, they’re less likely to habituate.
A small mister is available that may convince geese to avoid a high-
traffic location when selecting a nest site.

Supplemental Habitat Modification. Two chemicals are registered

in the United States as Canada goose repellents. Anthraquinone
triggers a strong digestive irritation. This compound also absorbs light
in the ultraviolet range that geese, but not humans, can see. Since
geese visually recognize treated areas, they learn to avoid them by
sight. Methyl anthranilate is a grape-flavor food additive that, when
sprayed on grass makes the grass unpalatable to geese. Geese must
try some treated grass before they learn not to eat at the site.

Repellents are washed off during rains and mowed off when grass is
cut. Repellents teach geese to avoid a site but it is unclear how long
this lesson lasts. Due to cost, few sites will be able to use repellents on
large areas frequently enough to be highly effective. Repellents may be
useful for small high-priority areas, as a short-term tool such as during
the molt, or when grass is dormant and not being cut.

What Doesn’t Work

Swans have been placed on ponds

under the theory that they will keep
wild waterfowl, including geese, away
from their territory. They don’t! And
sometimes they become nuisances
themselves.

Many simple devices are sold to

frighten geese. Some may do so
temporarily. Indeed, nearly anything
new may frighten geese temporarily.
People simply shooing them
persistently will move them away for a
little while. But geese are smart
enough to quickly realize when

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something doesn’t pose a real threat. These types of devices do not

work as long-term solutions to Canada geese conflicts:

• Balloons
• Stationary predator effigies (inflatable snakes,
plastic owls)
• Human scarecrows
• Floating alligator heads
• Flags
• Dead-goose decoys
• Ultrasonics

Resolving Conflicts—a Final Thought

Conflicts between people and Canada geese will be

resolved by individuals and communities that care
about the birds, the environment, and the well-
being of their communities—individuals like you
and communities like yours.

Sources of Additional Information

Humane Canada Goose Management

humanesociety.org/wildneighbors – The HSUS Wild Neighbors™ program.
geesepeace.org – GeesePeace™.
pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GooseTracks – GooseTracks online discussion forum.

U.S. and Canadian Government Agencies

migratorybirds.fws.gov – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Division of
Migratory Bird Management.
• gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html – The full text of the Nest and Egg Depredation Order
in USFWS regulations. Search for Federal Register of August 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No.
154, pages 45964-45993 and Federal Register of August 20, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 160,
pages 46403-46409.
• https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR/geSI.aspx – Register to addle with the USFWS.
• https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR/DOC/eRcgrSCL.pdf – Summary of states’ current
requirements for addling.
cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/mbc-com – Canadian Wildlife Service, Migratory Birds Conservation
Division.

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Goose Biology and Research

goose.org – International Goose Research Group. Their database of primary
science, GooseRef at goose.org/gooseref/, is particularly valuable.

Publications
Doncaster, Deborah, & Keller, Jeff. (2000). Habitat Modification and Canada Geese:
Techniques for mitigating human/goose conflicts in urban and suburban
environments. Animal Alliance of Canada. Can be downloaded at
animalalliance.ca/.

The Humane Society of the United States. (2009). Canada Goose Egg Addling
Protocol. Can be downloaded at humanesociety.org/issues/
wildlife_overpopulation/tips/canada_goose_addling_protocol.html.

Training
humanesocietyu.org/workshops_and_classes/canada_goose_egg_addling.html –
Humane Society University online non-credit short training course on Canada goose
egg addling.

Photographic Credits
Cover: iStockphoto.com
Page 1, 2, 5, 6 top, 10: John
Hadidian/The HSUS
Page 3: Linda Hubner/The HSUS
Page 6 bottom: A. Martens/MSPCA
Page 7: Janet Snyder/The HSUS
Page 8: Ross Michaels
Page 10: iStockphoto.com
Page 11: Jeffrey Irish
Page 12: Unknown

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