GEESE!!!

Are geese a problem on the golf course in your area? I'm from Long Island, NY and they are a "HUGE" problem up here! I work as a Ranger on our town course which is situated on Long Island Sound. I watch these geese when I work my shifts. What a mess. I looked it uo on the internet and learned that geese like to feed on "Fertilized grass next to open water." Well......That's us in a "Nutshell".

Greens keeper at my course has a dog, "ROUND'EM UP", Off the dog goes like a bolt of lightning..... needless to say geese dont get much of a chance at my course of just hanging out and pooping everywhere. Greenskeeper does a great job of keeping them away w/ his pal.

[quote name='J5isalive' timestamp='1351197199' post='5846073']
Greens keeper at my course has a dog, "ROUND'EM UP", Off the dog goes like a bolt of lightning..... needless to say geese dont get much of a chance at my course of just hanging out and pooping everywhere. Greenskeeper does a great job of keeping them away w/ his pal.
[/quote]


Yes, the general consensus heard on this topic is that "Dogs" are the most effective deterrent for Geese. I wish our Superintendent would consider it.

I used to be a member at a course where we had a problem with geese. We got a guy in to shoot a few and randomly leave the dead ones on the course. Apparently the sight and smell makes them go away. Worked like a treat for us.

[quote name='outwardnine' timestamp='1351202065' post='5846401']
I used to be a member at a course where we had a problem with geese. We got a guy in to shoot a few and randomly leave the dead ones on the course. Apparently the sight and smell makes them go away. Worked like a treat for us.
[/quote]

I hope they weren't Canadian Geese. They are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918. You could be fined $5000 to $10000 for harming or injuring a [b]goose[/b] or its nest without a federal permit.

The only way we found was to use a "scatter gun" or a "scatter round" from a shotgun. Shoot over the tops of them, doing no harm, a few times to scare them away and they won't return.

[url="http://geesepoliceinc.com/"]http://geesepoliceinc.com/[/url]

Take a shotgun...and then eat well.

Geese are a huge problem most anywhere on golf courses. Thank the tree huggers for their protected status.........Aside from all the droppings, they dig holes in the greens!! Golfers should be allowed to shoot them dead and eat them. IMO

[quote name='BuckeyePaul01' timestamp='1351303504' post='5852743']
Geese are a huge problem most anywhere on golf courses. Thank the tree huggers for their protected status.........Aside from all the droppings, they dig holes in the greens!! Golfers should be allowed to shoot them dead and eat them. IMO
[/quote]

True they are a nuisance. However, when geese hang around golf courses they rapidly become unfit for eating. (Don't ask me how I know, trust me on this) Their brethren that eat grain are good to eat.

Last year and again this year too many geese. Droppings all over the greens, tee boxes, etc. Weather is mild here and they stay for extended periods. Don't lick your golf ball.

I play golf in Michigan, and I can't count how many times I've had to step in between goose poops while walking in the fairway. It's a game all of its own.

This is one reason why I contribute my time to goose population control during goose season

[quote name='J5isalive' timestamp='1351197199' post='5846073']
Greens keeper at my course has a dog, "ROUND'EM UP", Off the dog goes like a bolt of lightning..... needless to say geese dont get much of a chance at my course of just hanging out and pooping everywhere. Greenskeeper does a great job of keeping them away w/ his pal.
[/quote]

The greenskeeper at a course I play has a dog that used to love chasing Geese. That was until the Geese would lure him into the water and try to drown him!

I would kill every Goose and deer (They love running into my vehicles) on the planet if I could and it somehow wouldn't effect the natural order of things.

One of the courses in my area had a problem with them and they used fake coyotes placed around the water's edges. They worked but you gotta moved them around every so often or the geese start ignoring them.

Don't ever go near the baby geese, the parent geese will ATTACK you and harm you.

certain holes do seem to attract geese more than other holes. EVERY time I go to this one course there are geese hanging out at on the green. it's a par 3 hole.

wondering if i do hit one and kill it would i be fined or can i take it home as lunch? what wood smoke is good on geese?

i'm curious if there are any stories of actual attacks. i've seen several times the hissing or the chasing of someone or spreading the wings, but if you stand your ground when they come at you do they actually bite or when someone says 'attack', can these actually be dangerous?

one of the places in my area had a huge problem with geese. they got a dog that just goes from hole to hole looking for them. no more geese. have a to wonder what that dog eats as he never seemed to stop .

At my old club near London we used to have a lot of Canada Geese. One year we got one of the local farmers in to shoot a few and have invited him back whenever they started reappearing.

Here are a couple of pics. This is just a small group.

Geese are a problem in Northern Ontario also. Can't bring shot gun on course though.



Newman

One of the courses here in Longmont, CO has them real bad. To the point I won't play there anymore. I'm sick and tired of having to scrape the goose turds off my shoes and the wheels of my cart. The crap is everywhere...

I like the dog idea.

[quote name='HoosierMizuno' timestamp='1351356831' post='5854657']
i'm curious if there are any stories of actual attacks. i've seen several times the hissing or the chasing of someone or spreading the wings, but if you stand your ground when they come at you do they actually bite or when someone says 'attack', can these actually be dangerous?
[/quote]

I've been bit a few times. I waterfowl hunt every season, and when one is down and injured and you walk up to it, you gonna get bit! Geese do not often "bluff" they will come at you, and bite your pecker off. Then whatcha ya gonna do? Sorry I just got back from the course, and the aimin' oil was flowin' please don't ban me

The "bite" of a goose feel's like someone pinched you.

There a problem here in Ohio too. What can you do? Geese need a place to live too and if I were a goose Id probably think a golf course is a pretty great place to live.

Last year, they were a problem around a small pond between two holes on my home course. This year, I saw a pair in the pond at the beginning of the season, but they vanished and no more showed up. I hate pushing my cart through goose turds!

I played a muni last year in AsHeille. THey Had rope strung aCCross tHe ponds in a grid pattern at water leVel. THe geese Come in for a landing and get tripped by tHe rope. Geese dissappeared soon after. (Sorry for tHe Caps, keyboard is messed up)

[quote name='flip flappy' timestamp='1351424639' post='5857459']
I played a muni last year in AsHeille. THey Had rope strung aCCross tHe ponds in a grid pattern at water leVel. THe geese Come in for a landing and get tripped by tHe rope. Geese dissappeared soon after. (Sorry for tHe Caps, keyboard is messed up)
[/quote]

That sounds interesting. if they have no way to get to the water would they stick around ?

One course I play has a hound that keeps the geese away. It's amazing that one dog can control that whole area, but it does a great job. Does nothing for the squirrels that bury their acorns in the greens though....

On another course I play on frequently, they just don't care. As we were finishing one league round, my partner and I had just crested a hill in our cart (I was driving), and saw a gaggle of geese down at the bottom of the hill. I decided to floor it to make them scatter. Well, one of them decided to charge the cart, probably because they had some goslings in the mix. We got to within 15 feet and ended up swirving out of the way, because one of them had every intention of flying a kamikaze mission into us. So, the answer to the question on whether they are bluffing is, "no, they aren't".

Canada geese are hardly an endangered species. Our club has taken various measures over the years and we don't have many geese these days. They used to be quite a problem.