Known for their signature “honk” and black-headed, white-cheeked appearance, Canada geese can be downright annoying to many. They can group up in large numbers — called a gaggle of geese — and often stand in the road, holding up traffic.
But they’re environmentally important., serving as a longtime valuable part of the area’s food web. These geese are protected at both the state and federal level, so intentionally harming or killing them can result in fines and court appearances. (More on that later.)
If these geese are getting in your way, there are ethical ways to get them to move.
The News & Observer spoke with Falyn Owens, an extension wildlife biologist with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission who specializes in Canada geese, to learn just how we can safely (and legally) reclaim our spaces.
“You can avoid having hundreds of Canada geese defecating in yards and standing in the road refusing to move,” Owens said.
“You can actually teach them what’s OK behavior and what’s not OK, and they will become receptive to that.”
Here are some ways people can keep geese out of their areas:
How to safely, ethically remove geese
▪ Make your area unattractive (to geese): Canada goose heaven has mowed ponds, a manicured lawn and turf grass. These park-like conditions can attract large numbers of Canada geese.
“I like to say ‘If you build it, they will come.’ I like to teach goose psychology so people understand why geese are around and how to make your space an area they don’t want to inhabit,” Owens said.
Geese that migrate (not all do) instinctively return to where they were born and learned to fly.
“If hazing efforts start early and are consistent, they can be trained to avoid an area for that season, but next year, they may try to come back to that same space,” Owens said.
By making your space uninhabitable, they won’t be able to settle there in the first place, so you won’t deal with them year after year.
▪ Put up short fencing: Geese are lazy and avoid flying short distances. They prefer to walk everywhere, Owens said.
If you put up a fence that they can’t step over, they won’t try hard at all to get into your area. They’ll just go somewhere else. This can be a physical fence that’s a couple feet tall, or it can be tall grasses, flowers or other natural barriers to make geese disinterested in using their energy to get into your space.
▪ Hire herding dogs: You can hire goose deterrence services that use tools like trained border collies, who will run around and chase geese out of an area without harming them, Owens said.
You might need to do this weekly for a bit of time, but the geese will eventually understand that it won’t be easy to be in that space (and they’ll be chased by a dog when they get there), so they’ll stick around somewhere else.
▪ Use statues or cutouts: These can work temporarily, but the geese will likely eventually realize that these objects don’t pose any threat to them.
“I’ve seen foam, life-size coyote statues that look scary with these snarling faces, but they work only on a temporary basis. The geese are smart enough to realize after a few days or weeks that it’s not real, so they can ignore it,” Owens said.
You can make them more effective by changing their locations every few days, or setting up something that moves. But even this technique is a temporary fix.
▪ Frighten the geese: You can chase the geese and make loud noises to get them off grass and out of roads. If the geese are in a body of water, feel free to use toy remote control boats to push them out.
The key is to make the geese want to leave the area without hurting them, Owens said.
▪ Contact the NC Wildlife Helpline: Call 866-318-2401 to get your Canada geese question answered by a wildlife expert. The helpline is monitored weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also email HWI@ncwildlife.org.
Learn more about Canada geese (and how to coexist with them) by visiting ncwildlife.org and searching “Canada goose.”
What happens if you hurt or kill a Canada goose?
Both resident and migratory Canada geese are protected at the state and federal level by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so it is against the law to intentionally kill or harm them outside of legal hunting seasons or under an approved depredation permit.
Here’s what can happen if you do:
▪ State laws: Enforcement officers give an educational warning first, teaching why Canada geese are helpful for our ecosystem and should not be harmed.
“We try to educate people for first-time offenses. But if it’s done again, you can be criminally charged,” said Joseph Spears, master officer for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
If someone is charged, they are given a citation for a misdemeanor and a court date, and they will have to plead their case. Offenders are typically given a court cost and a fine of up to $1,000, Spears said.
And if you want to report someone for harming or killing a goose, you will have to appear in court as a witness, Spears said.
▪ Federal laws: The Migratory Bird Treaty Act has misdemeanor and felony provisions.
Misdemeanors are punishable by up to six months imprisonment and/or a $15,000 fine, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. Felonies are punishable by up to two years imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine.
Will Canada geese hurt you?
“For all their bluster and boldness, Canada geese don’t pose a threat to healthy people. When confronted, they will walk or fly away,” Owens said.
The exception is nesting geese. They will defend their nest from potential threats by flapping and biting at anything that comes too close to their eggs. So if you see a single goose standing guard with another goose laying quietly nearby, the best thing to do is to stay away.
“You will risk getting ‘goosed’ by an angry gander. A goose bite is much like a hard pinch and may bruise but usually does not draw blood,” Owens said.