WASHINGTON—The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) offers advice to property owners on landscaping to discourage large flocks of Canada geese where they are not welcome. Spring planting season is here and this is the best time to start habitat alterations that can lead to long-term and environmentally responsible solutions to conflicts with geese.

Grassy areas near open water are the most attractive landscapes to geese. Grass shoots are a favorite food for geese and open water offers them best protection from danger. Landscaping changes can reduce their preferred food and increase their wariness of danger, encouraging geese to choose other sites.

Parks, stormwater management ponds, homeowners’ association common areas, and corporate office parks are all examples of properties where Canada geese often congregate in large flocks. During this spring planting season, property owners and managers and landscaping professionals can incorporate these suggestions to make properties less attractive to large flocks of Canada geese.

o Reduce lawn area and the amount of young shoots within lawns.

o Replace mowed, fertilized grass with other plantings or materials.

o Allow grass to “naturalize.” Grass at least six inches high has fewer young, tender shoots and the shoots are more difficult for geese to find.

o End or reduce fertilizer use and supplemental watering to reduce young shoots.

Reduce sight lines and access to open water. Geese like open sight lines and begin to feel insecure when they cannot see everything within at least 30 feet of where they are.

o Add plantings such as long grasses, shrubs, or other dense tall plants along shorelines.

o Use fences, hedges, and a continuous band of emergent aquatic plants like cattails and bulrushes in the water at the shoreline, alone or in combination with other elements.

o Boulders---two feet or larger in diameter and more than 12 inches high---can be intermixed with plants.

The HSUS urges property owners and managers to use habitat modification as a long-term, cost-effective, and humane way to reduce conflicts with geese. Habitat modification, especially when used with other humane methods, can allow people and geese to coexist in harmony while creating more diverse and productive landscapes.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization with more than eight million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, and farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The HSUS protects all animals through legislation, litigation, investigation, education, advocacy, and fieldwork. The non-profit organization, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2004, is based in Washington, DC and has 10 regional offices across the country.