How to Determine the Most Effective Products for Geese Control

Dealing with geese on your property can be challenging, especially when they bring noise, droppings, and potential damage to your landscape. Fortunately, with a well-planned strategy that combines different methods, you can achieve effective, humane geese control and keep geese away from unwanted areas. Below are proven approaches and products to consider when developing a geese control plan.

1. Trained Border Collies: Ohio Geese Control’s Most Effective Tool

Ohio Geese Control’s most powerful and proven method is with our trained border collies. Our dogs are specifically conditioned to use their natural herding instinct and wolf-like glare to mitigate and redirect the geese, without harming them. Geese quickly recognize the border collie as a predator — and unlike decoys or noise devices, the dogs are real, unpredictable, and persistent. That combination is what makes them so effective.

Our certified handlers bring the dogs to your property on a regular visit schedule, driving geese off and disrupting their sense of safety at your site. Over time, geese learn that your property is not a secure place to feed, rest, or nest — and they stop returning. The dogs work in any environment: parking lots, corporate campuses, shorelines, athletic fields, golf courses and more.

It is the combination of tactics that is the most effective. The border collies are the live, active pressure that makes the combination of everything else stick. Ohio Geese Control, assesses your property to customize a plan that best suits your needs.

2. Habitat Modification: Make Your Property Less Appealing

One of the most effective ways to discourage geese is by changing the environment they find attractive.

• Discourage nesting: Geese are drawn to familiar areas for breeding. Planting tall grass or shrubs along shorelines and property edges creates a visual barrier and makes geese feel less secure.
• Adjust grass height: Allowing grass to grow taller, about six inches or more, can deter geese, as they prefer shorter, tender grass for foraging.
• Alter water features: Steep pond banks, fountains, or other water disruptions can make the area less appealing for resting and feeding.
• Choose coarse grass varieties: Planting less palatable species, such as tall fescue, can help discourage grazing.
• Avoid feeding geese: Never feed geese, and ask others not to as well. Feeding creates dependency and encourages geese to stay.

3. Goose Repellents: Safe, Humane Deterrents

Liquid repellents are a simple and humane way to discourage geese. Many are made with ingredients like methyl anthranilate, which is derived from grapes, or blends of botanical oils. These ingredients irritate a goose’s sense of taste and smell, making treated areas less appealing.

One of the most effective repellent products available is Flight Control^® Max, which Ohio Geese Control uses as part of its professional programs. Unlike grape-based repellents, Flight Control^® Max uses a naturally occurring compound called anthraquinone — and it works in two distinct ways. First, it absorbs ultraviolet light, making treated turf appear visually different to geese, who can see UV spectrum light. Second, if geese do eat the treated grass, they experience temporary digestive discomfort that is harmless but effective. Geese quickly learn to associate the area with that reaction and avoid it entirely.

What makes Flight Control® Max particularly well-suited for properties is that it is odorless, waterproof, and remains effective through rain and irrigation. It works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without any noise, netting, or visible equipment. It is safe for people, pets, and non-target wildlife. For properties where geese are a persistent problem, a program of six to seven applications per year provides consistent, long-term relief.

To learn more about Flight Control^® Max, visit www.flightcontrol.com.

4. Scare Tactics: Keep Geese Uncomfortable

Visual deterrents work when they are realistic and regularly moved to prevent geese from becoming accustomed to them. We typically do not use them as a stand-alone tool — they work best when paired with active hazing by our border collies. The dogs establish real predator pressure, and visual deterrents reinforce that message between visits, keeping geese on edge even when the dogs are not on site.

• Coyote decoys: These simulate natural predators but need to be relocated often.
• Scarecrows, balloons, and flags: Use designs with movement and reflective surfaces to improve effectiveness.
• Reflective tape and eye-spot balloons: Light-reflecting objects can disorient geese, especially when placed strategically around high-traffic areas.

5. Exclusion Devices: Physical Barriers That Work

Physical barriers can make it more difficult for geese to access your property, but sometimes inhibit some of our other tactics, so it’s best to see how these fit into your overall plans.

• Fencing: Low fences, about 2 to 3 feet high, can help keep geese from walking onto your lawn.
• Netting: Use netting along pond banks to discourage landing or as a covering to block access.
• Wire grids: These can be stretched over water surfaces to prevent geese from landing.

Choosing the Right Combination

The most effective geese control plans start with trained border collies as the foundation and build from there — layering in habitat modification, professional-grade repellents like Flight Control® Max, visual deterrents, and physical barriers for longer-term results. Each method reinforces the others, but it is the dogs that establish the consistent predator pressure geese cannot adapt to or ignore.

Ohio Geese Control is an authorized applicator of Flight Control^® Max, and we offer it as a standalone service or as part of a bundled geese management program tailored to your property. Contact us today to learn more about our humane geese control solutions and keep your property free of geese this spring.