I live in wild kingdom. Marlin Perkins could have filmed in my neighborhood. On any given day the area can have: opposum, mice, owls, hawks, skunks, geese, ducks, rabbits, deer, snakes, voles, and probably 10 other animals that I have forgotten to name. Knock on wood, we don’t have a racoon problem here, but that’s about it.
Oh, but no bear sighting anywhere near us this year. Yet.
Now while I kid that I live in the boonies, I actually live in a very populated area, in a subdivision that is pushing 40 years old, and the main roads nearest to me have tons of traffic daily!
But, apparently the wild life has not gotten the memo that people have taken over their habitats, so we all compete for space.
While some people in my area consider the deer the biggest nuisance – and I agree that they can cause a lot of grief when they dart out into traffic, or destruction when they chew up a garden, for myself I live on the other side of water, and have only seen deer tracks on my street a few times since we’ve moved here.
The geese are quite another story.
Sometime, maybe four-five years back, the Canadian Geese got lost at the border and decided western New York was “close enough” to Canada, so they took up residence in the area. These pooping, squawking machines can destroy yards, roofs, and leave a giant mess behind on sidewalks and near waterways. An empty field is heaven for these creatures, and hell for anyone wanting to play soccer, take their dog for a walk or just have a seat on the grass and look at nature. Believe me, you’ll get a lot of natural-substance on your feet or rear-end if you try walking or sitting when the ducks have been.
Fortunately, my street has a secret weapon:
His name is Max.
A few years ago, we had a gaggle of geese on the lawn next door, and apparently I didn’t secure Max’s leash when I took him out for a walk. He tore-off after those geese like a mutt on a mission!
That was the last of the geese on our street for the remainder of the year.
The geese tried again the following year, and this time I deliberately let Max go after them. Again, geese-be-gone on the street.
The key part of this story is the ground area was clear of geese due to Max. Those damn quackers figured out the dog could not reach the roof, and would land and sit on various roofs in the neighborhood and proceed to do what geese do best: squawk and poop. However, what the geese didn’t count on was the fact that at our house they may be out of reach of the dog but they were not out of reach of the crazy-woman with a dozen tennis balls and pretty good aim that also resided there. While the geese would occasionally squat on someone else’s roof, they stayed clear of our roof for the rest of the year.
Last year was more of the same with Max chasing off the geese, and the geese coping a squat on some roofs in the neighborhood, but ignoring our roof.
This year, we have seen the geese back on the street-level bold as brass several times. I hesitate to let Max go after them because of his back. The landscapers told us a few weeks ago that we have a nest of duck eggs under our front bushes (we can’t see them). We suspect that if there are eggs, they might be goose eggs, and that is why we saw a few geese on the street on more than one occasion. If it is goose eggs … that is bold. Max does go to the front yard on a leash, so why would you subject your little goslings to the terror known as Max?
Which brings me to my dilemma. We are getting a new roof. I have asked for spikes or prongs or something at the top of the roof-line to deter the geese from sitting on the roof. It doesn’t have to necessarily be sharp, just something to make it uncomfortable for them to squat – and poop – on the roof. Nothing will wreck a roof quite as fast as goose turds.
Does anyone have anything like this bird spikes on your roof? If you had a goose problem before putting those spikes up at the top of your roof-line, did that solve your goose problem?
Note: I had great difficultly naming this post. The title was Hubby’s idea.
Marie says
While we have no geese in our yard (I have seen them on neighboring blocks) I know what you mean about the poop. We have a walk/bike path by the river not far from the house and the poop has kept us away. It’s not the poop on the bottom of shoes that bother me, it’s what would be on my husband’s wheelchair wheels and having to put that mess in the van to get home. And I have been warned about the bombing missions. My husband’s garage was even closer to the path and water and I had been down there and seen a goose overhead and watched him drop a bomb. It grew larger and larger as it neared. Those things are huge! I had plenty of time to step aside. Splat! Failed mission. But the mess they make on the cars, yuck!
Ann says
Yeah, I worry about what the dog could drag in on his paws. Geese = dirty. blech
Ann
KimH says
Sorry.. no help here.. We had a huge goose problem at work and they finally hired a gal with a team of dogs to chase them off.. They were able to go on the roof as well since the buildings are flat roofed and there are stairwells leading to them. I hate geese.. Canadian & otherwise! Hope you get it figured out!
I wonder.. if you toss wolf or coyote scented bombs/pellets on your roof if it would keep them away.. just a thought..
Ann says
I wonder if those would hurt the roof? I’ll take a look into that Kim, thanks!
Ann
Ann says
I asked the roofer who came to give a quote today, Kim, and he said that the roofs now deter everything (mold, stains, etc), so he doesn’t think it would help, and it could possibly void the roofing warranty.
Ann
Candie says
OMG Ann, I nearly keeled over laughing. There is something call awaywithgeese.com that you can actually put on your roof. It is a strobe light and on many websites they say it scares the crap, sorry wrong word, out of the geese and they fly away. Hubby, in his spare time, could sit on the roof with a shot gun that should deter the little pains in the ***.
I built a brand new home 11 years ago. I live on a deadend street, nice houses and 5 other new houses were built making a total of 11 houses on the street. The gentleman that lived across the street had a huge and beautiful house with a six car garage in the back of his house, that included a huge workshop. He passed away five years ago and a couple moved in and guess what, they raise fighting cocks. They put them in the 6 car garage and have about 100, plus over 50 chickens, a goat and 4 pit bulls and a german shepherd. I have complained to the animal authority, because he admits he raises them to fight. He takes them over the border to Mexico. At 3 to 4:00 a.m. you should hear my pretty little street. It sounds like you are down on the farm with Old McDonald. The goat baas, the chickens cluck and the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo and the dogs bark. It wakes me up and keeps me up because they do this for about 6 hours. I have pictures of it all but the authorities said he is a small fish in a large pond and they want the people that fight them. I called the US Humane Society, they came and looked and got in touch with the animal authority but nothing has happened. Because of the chickens and roosters I now have opposums and raccons in my yard every night. Bridgette has tried more than once to take on a raccoon, that didn’t go good. The feed for his menagire attracts these critters and snakes too. I have had several garter snakes in my yard. So I might trade you a goose or two for several chickens, roosters and a pit bull if you want. What do you think?
Ann says
What a way to put things in perspective, Candie.
If the Humane Society won’t do anything, what about your town/city ordinance department? Are they allowed to have that going on in your neighborhood? I am not a giant fan of HOAs, but when I hear about stuff like this I can recognize that they do serve a purpose (I am assuming you don’t have an HOA with all that going on).
Ann
Lea Ann says
I was talking to someone the other day………..the town of Lancaster uses rubber snakes in spots, the geese hate snakes.
Ann says
I’ll dangle them off my roof, LOL Could you imagine?
Ann
Lea Ann says
Funny!!!!!
Marie says
You could tell your neighbors you’re filming a new movie with Samuel L. Jackson, “Snakes on a Roof”.
Ann says
LMAO Marie!
Ann
Lea Ann says
I should tell our town hall this…..loaded with them there.
KimH says
How about a good old fashioned wrist rocket? If you hit em between the eyeballs.. you can have cooked goose for supper. 😉
Marie says
I completely agree with you on these nuisance geese. I cant stand them!
Reminds me of my grandfather getting ticked off at a Blue Jay that was chasing all of the other birds away from the feeder and cleaning house. He used electric fence wire on the feeder and ran a power cord to the house. He sat at the window and every time that Blue Jay would land he would plug it in!!
Tamona Valentine says
I didnt have a goose problem but OMG that Max is so GANGSTA! Not on his block lol! I love it! Now we do have a lot of ducks at the local park and my son insists they won’t miss one if we grab him and make duck dressing. I told him to go grab me one. He is not as country as his mama so he had no clue that the duck is no wimp. The duck went after him and when the fight was over, they both went to their own corners. This means that after a punch and a kick my son was free of the ducks beak and ran left as the duck ran right. Neither one knew what they were getting into but I doubt they will do that again!