I looked out the window this morning and saw about 100 Canadian Geese visiting my front lawn. I was concerned that they would chomp the sprouting spring bulbs. On the contrary - they stayed on the lawn and poked for grubs(?) They also fertilized the lawn. One stepped onto the garden bed, bare soil, and quickly stepped back onto the lawn. I guess he/she saw me watching :-) Don't let the bare lawn fool you. Six inches of snow due today.
About 3 weeks ago, a pair of these monsters/beauties adopted us and I never knew that these critters were so social. Everytime someone is working out of doors up they come and seem to hang around where ever you are working. I have a tote of potting soil in one outbuilding and they are in there constantly. I quickly chase them out and in two seconds they are back. I planted sweet peas and they were right there foraging for I don't know what; hopefully not my seed. Personally I am getting kind of tired of them.We have a small pond down in a low swale of ground and they do spend their nights there.
They're so pretty and interesting to watch, but they're a huge nuisance. If you have a pair of them hanging around, do whatever you can to discourage them! Once you have a pair, you will have fifty...or more. They're a major problem, and also protected (at least in Ohio).
There are people licensed to do what they call egg shaking. If a goose's eggs are shaken and put back in the nest, they won't hatch, but the goose will continue caring for the duds all season long. If you remove eggs, they will just lay more and continue.
But if they are protected isn't it against the law to shake or even disturb the eggs? How do you get a liscence to be an egg shaker?...Do they test your technique for shaking and then crack the egg to see if it is properly scrambled?
Padre, neat picture. However i don't envy you geese on your lawn. I see a local flock of them anywhere, from 35 to 150 down in the alfalfa fields below my housw and thats near enough for me. I don't think they are protected any more. At least not around here. The golf course people are having a tough time with them. rutholive (Donna)
it's not the fault of the geese that they are so plentiful. Blame the planners/developers for putting so many ponds in and around your housing developments. They are taking advantage of a niche and the abundant grass.
shoot 'em!
I live just a few miles from Padre, set between a reservoir and a large park with a lake. I've noticed, since returning to NYC ('92), a dramatic increase in the number of geese that stop here on their migration and also those staying for the entire season.
There are also swans living at both the reservoir and the lake, but they seem to keep a greater distance from humans than the geese.
Where Padre and I live is fully developed and has been for many, many years. Perhaps they are arriving in greater numbers now due to development in areas outside the city. Or perhaps the increased numbers I am seeing here is a result of population pressure in other places. I'm totally unschooled about these things.
I don't know if these are protected animals.
The geese are very attractive in their own right. Certainly their early morning and evening flights in formation are wonderful to watch. Yet, the carpet of poop that is the inevitable result of their visits is..., well..., poop.
Adam.
PS: Mark, shoot whom? You don't specify ;~)
This message was edited Sunday, Mar 9th 3:00 PM
Geese make good watch-animals.
They will bite anyone they consider an intruder.
And, while in Mexico this past fall, right before Oct 31, we were crossing a bridge over a large lake and saw many of them migrating south.
What a sight that was! It give you a real feeling of how gret God is, and the onder of instinct, and perseverance, as they travel these huge distances to do what is planned for them to do!
awesome, huh?
