Message Board - Cricket: Canada geese
4 Dec 2009 by Ceebs52
Can anyone tell me if it's true that Canada geese are classed as vermin?
I have great trouble with these big useless bird digging up my square and leaving bullets of c_ _p all over the ground.
4 Dec 2009 by barry glynn
Hi Chris
As has been recorded on here, I asked a similar question last winter as I have a couple of these pests around.
If you google it, they seem to be classed as pests and as such can be "controlled" but it isnt clear as to what reasons you have to have for culling them.
Personally, I settled for a catapult but thats only any good when I am there, they are a right nuisance. My two are wise to me now I think, thus far this winter I havent seen them on ground but I will do soon, no doubt.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
4 Dec 2009 by Ceebs52
Hello Barry
Only two? I have at least 60. They are nesting by a small lake on the golf course next to the ground and the number could easily double next spring.
Fancy a goose or five for Xmas lunch?
4 Dec 2009 by barry glynn
Bl**dy hell Chris!
You poor s*d. You ve got me worried now in case they turn up this winter with some mates.
I would seriously check out the law closely if I had that many. Probably find though that screwing up a cricket ground doesnt count as good enough reason to shoot the bl**dy things.
Plus there always some nosy t*ats around that will complain. I had one moron complaning when I cut down/trimmed some bushes within our ground that I was destroying the habitat for the little birdies. I know she was a t*at cos she signed herself in the letter with qualifications she was still studying for and actually hadnt got yet!
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
4 Dec 2009 by Ceebs52
I've googled RSPB and they class them as vermin because they have no natural predator.
I'm sure the golf club would assist in any culling. In spring they are at their worst when goslings are born. They are then very nasty. A gatling gun with a silencer is the way to go, for sure.
I have sympathy with you regarding the nosey t*at, cos of course we have those too
4 Dec 2009 by barry glynn
Good luck matey, 2 of them are bad enough, they cr*p every foot they walk dont they? And those beaks work like a trowel
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
4 Dec 2009 by Ken Barber
I had about 25 on my ponds three years ago. Over about a two week period, we used to wander out to the couple of ponds they frequented and shot them first thing in the morning at day break before the first golfer went out. Sometimes had a left and right (two geese). We shot about about ten before they got the message. Haven't seen them since....... I wonder why?
KB
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under who’s shade you do not expect to sit.
4 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
ver·min (vûrmn)
n. pl. vermin
1. Various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health.
2. Animals that prey on game, such as foxes or weasels.
3.
a. A person considered loathsome or highly offensive.
b. Such people considered as a group.
As you can see vermin does not mean a creature has no natural predator.
In fact the Canada Goose has several predators,
Ken Barber for one, the Fox for another.
Barry Glyn, you would be right to be worried as two WILL call in others and before you know it you will have dozens like
Chris Bourne has and the numbers will grow from there.
A golf course complex in the Midlands has had an ongoing problem for many years with Canada's and Pink footed-geese and have tried all sorts to get rid of them, pricking eggs, destroying nests, shooting on the ground and others, all of these with the correct permissions and licenses I hasten to add. But all they have achieved is to control the numbers rather than decrease them.
If you have two, get rid of them now, if you have sixty it's a problem but manageable if you are determined.
Many golf courses in America have large numbers and several methods have been tried, one of the more successful ones is to use dogs to chase them off the fairways but once on large ponds or lakes it's almost impossible. The real secret to remaining free of these irksome creatures is to get rid when there are only a couple.
We also have a problem with (possibly) a couple of hundred the trouble and expense they cause is a real pain, also the extra work to keep them away from more "noticeable" areas such as approaches could be better spent elsewhere.
I know this is no help at all but perhaps those affected can take some comfort from the fact they are not alone.
Cal
4 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
Sorry about the clarity and quality of the above picture, as you can see it was very foggy when I took it.
Below is a little text I posted on another site, it answers the question of "what model fairway mower are they".
This is the "goose one LF Fairway Mower" produced in large numbers and originates in Canada, renowned for it's very low heights of cut and automatic fertilizer vent in the rear. We have a fairly large fleet here of about 150-200 ish but some places have twice as many, one place in the Midlands has a mixed fleet of the Canadian model and the Pink Foot model totalling around one thousand mowers.
Once you have these mowers they can be difficult to scrap and are supplied with a natural fleet re-generation service.
Operator training is limited and the mowers are often out of control mowing everything in sight including greens and tees as well as fairways.
Trying to limit fleet size is difficult/impossible, the place in the Midlands has tried most things within the law, obtaining licenses to shoot on the ground, prick eggs and destroy nests etc. but end up only maintaining numbers rather than allowing the fleet to increase.
Once your local dealer has supplied you a couple get rid of them as quickly as possible because they will call others in, soon, very soon. Be warned.
4 Dec 2009 by Ken Barber
Hi Calcallaby, my course is in the Midlands!
I hope I am no to blame for the increase in the number of Canada geese on your course?
We had four geese return this spring..... looking for possible nest sites. Two met their maker.... The other two did not return. No swans this year since the fox got the cob the previous year. But we did see several clutches of mallard rear this year and they are still around.
I don't shoot everything that moves, only geese, corvids and squirrels..... two of which are not native species!
KB
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under who’s shade you do not expect to sit.
4 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
Hi Ken,
I'm in South Wales and not the Midlands so you have no responsibilty for "our" geese.
You are talking to a shooting man here, been out all day today as a matter of fact, so I understand you shooting tree rats, those that root up the grass looking for leather jackets and of course, the dreaded geese. Two met their maker, now that's the way to do it.
Don't let the beer spoil your aim.
Cal
5 Dec 2009 by Steve63
Sympathies to any with this pest problem, in the 80's when I did a work placement at Royal mid Surrey switching goose cr4p off the greens was a daily task, sited next to the Thames it was a tricky problem.
Ken, excuse my ignorance, but what is a Corvid?
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
5 Dec 2009 by vid
All types of crow (includes magpies)
5 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
And Jays
5 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
http://www.earthlife.net/birds/corvid-ch.html
Try this Steve.
7 Dec 2009 by Steve63
Thanks, glad we don't have all of those!
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
7 Dec 2009 by andy dixon
I know you can shoot pidgeons (both feral and wood) and magpies to protect crops (in this case your sward). Canada geese i'm not so sure about. I find it most effective when done in sight of my local pair of Jays who then warn off all the other birds for a while. I remember hearing at college that Canada Geese hate the smell of grape juice and won't come within a mile of a glass of it but haven't tried this myself.
7 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
Haven't heard of that one Andy but cheap enough to give it a try.
7 Dec 2009 by andy dixon
I just thought i would try it. Not having any grape juice i opened a bottle of wine and left it on the windowsill for 30 seconds. I then looked outside and i can't see one Canada goose. Mind you, I can't see anything. It's dark. Oh well, better drink the wine now i suppose. Would't want to waste it!
7 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
Must work then Andy, proof of the pudding and all that plus some fringe benifits. Don't wake up with lumps in your head, you know what that "grape juice" is like.
7 Dec 2009 by Grassman2011
I wonder if good old west country apple juice would have the same effect ?????
7 Dec 2009 by calcallaby
On what (or who) Andy or the Canadas.
7 Dec 2009 by andy dixon
It only works on the female as it get's inside her (in cider lol)
8 Dec 2009 by barry glynn
Its true, it does make them disappear, I once drank so much "apple juice" on tour in Somerset, I couldnt see anything at all.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
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