Border Collies + Geese = No Poop to step on!

A look at a great, safe and eco-friendly way to control Canada geese.

http://tinyurl.com/NoGoosePoop

Don't you hate walking or running on Belle Isle or other parks in Metro Detroit always having to avoid the tons of Canada goose droppings?

A family run company called Gooseworks out of South Lyon uses border collies to herd & control the large Canada geese population in Metro Detroit. They have a natural herding instinct making the geese fly away & conditioned them to never to return or at least never return to public sidewalks. When not herding geese they train on sheep on a 80 acre farm outside of Jackson

http://tinyurl.com/NoGoosePoop

Eric Seals
Staff Photographer
Detroit Free Press
eseals@freepress.com

An amazing fact is that these Canada Geese were considered in danger of extinction fifty years ago. When these well manicured and mowed areas are allowed to grow uncut, the geese leave.

You're right Bobl and they are still on the extinction list according to Kirk from Gooseworks.
Once something gets on the list it seems to take an act of Congress to get them off, safe to say Canada geese should be off that list with the amount we have here.

I've always called them Canadian Geese but was corrected when shooting and editing this video
http://tinyurl.com/NoGoosePoop

Glad I got it right :-)

I was a bird rehabber for 13 years. Long ago I came to the conclusion that the only really effective deterrent for Canada geese was a herding dog.

On our street, the association, myself and both neighbors on either side of me have all bought fake coyotes.

they look mean and we have been geese free for two weeks now!!!

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Originally Posted by Crystal

I was a bird rehabber for 13 years. Long ago I came to the conclusion that the only really effective deterrent for Canada geese was a herding dog.

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I've been a waterfowl hunter for 20 years, believe me when I say there are more effective deterrents. :D

The issue with herding is that it does not get rid of problem geese, it simply makes them a problem for someone else. What we need are more local property owners [[Mainly golf courses and the large parks) to allow population control hunts. Also it would help if local no hunting ordinances could be relaxed to make exceptions for the targeting of problem geese.

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Originally Posted by Johnnny5

I've been a waterfowl hunter for 20 years, believe me when I say there are more effective deterrents. :D

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Like shooting them? Believe me, if I could I would. At least a few thousand around here. I use a pellet gun to their hind quarters when they approach bird feeders and my deck. I also drop a few pellets around them when they're in the lake in front of my home. This serves to keep them on guard and even better, to spook them. In the winter they come around because we bubble our docks, giving them open water. At night, I wave a couple million candle power spot light and a laser pointer wildly around them, and they fly off. Also, strobe light firecrackers. When I lived on Field Street on the lower east side, I took part in egg destruction and replacement at Belle Isle. Another good thing, alluded to in this link - let grasses grow taller than the geese, taking away their line of vision to detect approaching predators - coyotes, wolfes, foxes and dogs. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Johnnny5, I agree 100%!

Can you eat 'em? This is a serious question.

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Originally Posted by texorama

Can you eat 'em? This is a serious question.

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Of course you can eat them! They are much leaner than a domestically raised goose, and you get a lot of meat out of one bird [[Around 8-10lbs from an adult). I normally shoot 30-40 birds each season so it's a big item on my menu. I might even throw some on the grill today! :)

The early season here in Michigan starts around the end of August and there is a liberal limit of 5 birds per day, per hunter. This season is specifically set up to target the non-migratory birds that make such a mess here in the summer. [[Most Canada Geese only briefly stop in Michigan in the Spring and Fall on their way to and from our neighbor to the North). The season briefly closes and then reopens in October when there are both migratory and local birds. The daily limit is reduced to 2 birds per day until the Winter season when the limit is increased again to target the local birds.

I recall reading somewhere that Canada Geese contribute to [[cause?) the E. Coli problems in local lakes.

Johnny5 good luck hunting them in parks [[where they always are) with families and kids around.

If you do plan on hunting in parks and golf courses please give me a heads up so I can come out and cover that for the newspaper and TV. Of course it would be hard shooting video of you doing that will all the cops over you.

Best of luck with that :-)

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

I recall reading somewhere that Canada Geese contribute to [[cause?) the E. Coli problems in local lakes.

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They Cause the problems of E Coli, no matter how many "save the poor birds" people say otherwise.

Let's see when you allow geese on the beaches or near the beaches they will shit and guess what when you test the water there is E Coli present!!!

I swear to god some people try and claim its a "water flow" problem and the geese have nothing to do with it.

I am referring to beaches in St. Clair Shores[[blossom Heath) and Harrison township[[metro Beach)

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Originally Posted by torbusto

Johnny5 good luck hunting them in parks [[where they always are) with families and kids around.

If you do plan on hunting in parks and golf courses please give me a heads up so I can come out and cover that for the newspaper and TV. Of course it would be hard shooting video of you doing that will all the cops over you.

Best of luck with that :-)

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Actually I have hunted geese on quite a few golf courses and many public parks [[Always within season and with the permission of the owners). Golf courses I've hunted during foul weather when no on is on the course, or after they have closed in the Fall. I've also legally hunted geese at Metro Beach [[In the water) and in many of the local State Parks including Island Lake Rec Area and Proud Lake.

Oh, and other than the occasional ribbing I get from the cops that I hunt with, I have never had the "cops all over me":cool:.

Our association has had success with stringing fishing line between short stakes pounded into the ground at the waters edge. However, it does require some regular maintenance and we are thinking about just letting the grass grow tall as mentioned above. Some of the neighborhood dogs were getting sick from the e.coli in the geese droppings and those vet bills have dropped to zero since we went with the fishing line around our stormwater retention pond.

Stringing line between short stakes works well in our subdivision as well.

I'd like to try to head off the bad science before it gets out of hand. We can't establish cause and effect between Canada geese specifically and E. coli levels. E. coli is fecal pollution, period. E. coli can come from wild birds, including Canada geese, gulls, swans, agricultural runoff, stormwater runoff, sewage overflows, and septic fields gone bad.

I think you're maths is wrong. shoes be:

Border Collies - Geese = No Poop to step on!

Yes, good call Whitehouse on the minus instead of plus
and I think you meant to write;

I think your math is wrong, should be:
not
I think you're maths is wrong. shoes be:

You're a math guy, I'm a writing, grammer and journalism guy :-)

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Originally Posted by torbusto

Yes, good call Whitehouse on the minus instead of plus
and I think you meant to write;

I think your math is wrong, should be:
not
I think you're maths is wrong. shoes be:

You're a math guy, I'm a writing, grammer and journalism guy :-)

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What we in the U.S. call "math," Europeans call "maths." I'd like to know why that is.

I've also seen software [[traditionally called "code" in the U.S., as in "sourcecode") increasingly called "codes" lately. Is there a relation between "math" and "code"?

I don't know about "shoes." Maybe they're wooden shoes. :) Painful as they are, I have worn them.

Thanks to Crystal for confirming my uncertainty about the Canada Geese.

If you find out the answer please let us know, I've never heard it called that before.

This is a great idea for local golf courses! I hate when a big pile of goose sh*t is in my putting line! :mad:

I had a client on the river with a big problem with Canada Geese. I put aluminum pie pans on their beach on stakes. Doesn't look elegant but it kept the Geese away.

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Originally Posted by torbusto

If you find out the answer please let us know, I've never heard it called that before.

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Me neither, here in the U.S. It's a pet curiosity of mine. Colleagues in England and Moscow consistently call our "math" "maths," [[plural), as if it were an abbreviation of "mathematics" [[plural).

Which is correct? And what about "code"/"codes"? Sincerely.

Sorry for the threadjack but I need to know! :)

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Originally Posted by sumas

I had a client on the river with a big problem with Canada Geese. I put aluminum pie pans on their beach on stakes. Doesn't look elegant but it kept the Geese away.

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Yes, I've heard that one before, also. It has to do with the reflections and their eyes. Much like the spotlight and laser I mentioned earlier. The laser has to be handled carefully so as not to harm their eyes. I don't want to maim or injure them, just chase them off. If hunting is a good reduction method, it should be allowed and encouraged. Johnny5 says he eats them. He didn't say how good they are. I have friends who hunt them but say they aren't good eating. Most hunters and fishers I know figure out a way to prepare their catch to be delicious. But I don't have much experience eating wild geese.

Article in today's Free Press about this very topic:

Dangerous levels of E. coli found in waterways

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

Took a spin around Belle Isle this morning, couldn't believe what mine eyes have seen. Luckily, I had my trusty Olympus by my side...

I'm betting that they landed a Homeland Security contract, and are getting paid big bucks to collect all of these birds.


I'm also expecting a new trend of 'Gray Turkey' for this coming Thanksgiving...

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Originally Posted by Gannon

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

Took a spin around Belle Isle this morning, couldn't believe what mine eyes have seen. Luckily, I had my trusty Olympus by my side...

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I absolutely love it. Must've been one hell of a racket. I took part in egg replacement at Belle Isle when I lived on the lower east side during the early 2000's.

Cool

The DNR started their round up of Canada Geese this month and I heard about rounding them into pens and now I see how it works.

There wasn't a single fuss, and the collectors were carrying 'em by the handful to their cage-trailer.

The geeses couldn't have been more co-operative.

Why didn't they try to fly away?

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

Why didn't they try to fly away?

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Geese are more B-52 bomber than Apache helicopter. They need a runway.:D

Oh. Good answer! I guess I haven't witnessed the process that much.

we are now on three weeks of putting up fake coyotes and we are virtually goose free--To be able to walk to the water in barefeet is sweet

Please clarify....I thought the Canada Goose was protected, and that you can't even SHOO them....dont get me wrong, I hate the buggers; I have done my share of slipping in a fresh pile of bird turd---but have been reluctant to take any kind of action because of law. [?]