Geese
About geese
Geese produce large quantities of excrement
Canada geese can be pests when their local population grows too large. Most people don't mind a few and its a nice way of allowing humans to interact with wildlife in parks and leisure areas.
However, they are not a native species, have no native predators and their numbers increase rapidly at the expense of native wildfowl, water quality and the leisure amenity of the surrounding grassland.
Because they are grass feeders, they need to eat a lot of it in order to live. Their digestive system voids large amounts of excrement on land where it befouls the grass around and destroys the visual and grazing amenity.
In the water their fouling causes a drop in oxygen levels and an increase in free nutrients which causes fish and pond plants to die and promotes algal blooms.
What happens during our visit?
Microbee can use trained dogs to control geese
Microbee controls Canada geese by using various barrier systems to separate the water areas from the grazing areas so that the geese cannot move easily between the two.
We also promote a habitat management system which, by clever use of planting and control of nearby grassland, makes a location less attractive to Canada geese.
It is possible, under license from DEFRA, to cull the geese by shooting or to treat their eggs during the breeding season to prevent hatching and thus control numbers. However, we do not see this as a very satisfactory solution and would prefer to promote one which restores a balance of wildlife and benefits all.
