How to Keep Geese off Your Patio

Make your patio less attractive to geese. The underlying problem in any situation where a bird or animal encroaches in an area it is not welcome is that the area is attractive to bird or animal. There are numerous humane and economic products that make an area unattractive to birds. They fall into several categories:^[1]

Remove anything attracting the geese that can be easily removed. If you have pet food for your dog or cat on your patio, remove it! Feed Fido or Kitty in the front yard not on the patio then the geese won't visit to steal an easy meal. Empty the kids paddling pool and put the pet water bowl out of sight unless your pet is using the patio so thirsty geese aren't tempted to drop in.^[2]

Use visual scare devices. These are things such as fake owls, coyotes, and other predatory organisms that are designed to scare the birds away. The problem with a lot of scare devices is that the birds get used to them too quickly.^[3]

• If you have a fake owl, try moving it every day or every other day.
• There are some visual scares like the Terror Eyes balloon and Irri-Tape that are designed to combat birds adaptive nature. They change constantly to make sure that the birds never get used to them. Search the internet for examples.

Try roost inhibitors. Geese are unlikely to roost on a patio but you can try this. Anything that stops a bird from roosting on a ledge, outcropping, or other surface. This includes spikes, sticky chemicals and others. These are very effective if you are worried about getting bombed from overhead or are bothered by birds roosting in a tree.^[4]

Implement taste aversions. These are used to make grass or other plants taste awful to birds. They require some re-application over time, but a high quality taste aversion such as BirdShield are micro-encapsulated to minimize the frequency of re-applications. Taste aversions from Bird-X, Inc. are food-grade and made out of Concord grapes, a taste that birds cannot stand.^[5]

Use sonic repellers. The big guns of bird control. High quality sonic repellents emit the distress cries of the target species and the hunting cries of that species' natural predators. They range in size and cost but are designed to be very random and frightening to birds. Search the internet for examples.