It was a cold day in January when we noticed that some geese had stayed behind for the winter. I imagine food is scarce with snow on the ground, but these geese aren't so dumb. Just below the layer of snow on the lawn of Genesee Yacht Club is some good green grass. The geese decided to make our lawn their winter feeding grounds, leaving behind the turds they digested,
One of our members had explored the Internet and discovered a website with a device guaranteed to chase those pesky geese away. It was called "Goose-B-Gone" and sold by Absolute Bird Control, Inc. in Lake Forest California. This box had a digitally recorded warning in goose-talk that said "Don't come here... " It had a built-in speaker and promised to cover up to three acres, available as an option with two external speakers. The price of $195 covered the unit and the extra speakers were an extra $100.
This sounded like just the gadget we were looking for. I placed an order for the Goose-B-Gone (less the external speakers), and received the order a few days later. The unit was placed on our patio facing the river and left to squawk at our intruders.
It seemed to work, with the few geese remaining in the area looking for food, now going to the other side of the river, leaving us alone.
That brings us to the present. There are two families of geese that made our basin their home. One family has four chicks, and the other has six. They look so cute swimming up the river, but please stay away from our grass. No such luck. We now have goose poop everywhere. On the lawn, on the patio, even a few feet from the blaring Goose-B-Gone.
I called Absolute Bird Control today, asking what could I do. When I told them that was purchased in January, they said that the 30 day money back warranty was over, and there was nothing they could do. NOTHING! Of course they invited me to purchase the liquid to spread on the grass, but oh yes, that's another couple hundred dollars. Give me a break!
I wonder what other yacht clubs are doing with the geese problem. I know what it is like to visit a club only to find goose land mines everywhere. Hey... you can comment on this subject right here on this blog site. Please... give me hope.
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6 comments:
Many times you must tackle a bird problem from differnt angles. Taking away thier food source, making the property kess acessible, and using scare tactics usually works. The migrate goose repellent has been sold for decades, and has grear success.
I have just ordered a pair of coyote decoys. What the heck... it's only money.
we are covered in turds at Pultneyville Yacht Club as well. There is talk of relaxing the dog rule & actually encouraging members to bring there dogs down to run them off. I hope it works because I hate shoes as much as stepping in turds.
We have 50 plus of the turd factories.
Oh they tried the coyote decoys at the Mariners across the harbour, the pesky birds now use them for shade.
We installed two coyote decoys and have had good results. I have had no reports of geese on the lawn since then. You cannot leave the decoys in the same position every day. They must be moved around to be affective.
It is now mid December. Our goose problem seemed to decline when I place the coyote forms on the lawn. However, as time went by, the geese came right up to the cardboard cut-outs of coyotes. One wise-guy member even said he saw one of the geese humping the coyote! lol
The other day I visited the club early one clear, cold morning. There were at least a dozen geese just sitting there on our beautiful lawn. I rounded them up, chasing them into the river, but they really didn't go far, swimming next to the docks. I then turned on the infamous Goose-B-Gone Ultrasonic goose noise maker, and they slowly swam down river.
I guess there isn't much to do but to take my dog Ernie and see if he can chase them away. Unfortunately, he is not a border collie, so they might come back.
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