Canada geese

[Ssscrudddy]

They peed me off earlier. I was falling asleep so I went to bed early, 8pm. 1.30 am honk honk honk, loads of them on the pontoon next to me. So I flashed a torch at them & got them to shift, but too late, I was already wide awake by then.

[junior]

Perhaps they had all moved here already?

 

 

Was that meant to go in the UKIP thread?

[Athy]

Was that meant to go in the UKIP thread?

 

Shurely CGIP?

[Paganboat]

Dont see why anything "needs to be controlled" personally, we share this waterway with nature, let nature decide, seems humans cause more aggro than geese, you get used to them, give me geese over a train track anyday

They peed me off earlier. I was falling asleep so I went to bed early, 8pm. 1.30 am honk honk honk, loads of them on the pontoon next to me. So I flashed a torch at them & got them to shift, but too late, I was already wide awake by then.

afternoon ;-)

[Athy]

give me geese over a train track anyday

In some cases, tied over it with stout cord.

[Alan de Enfield]

, give me geese over a train track anyday

 

 

 

Surely that depends if you want a feather pillow or to get from Manchester to London

 

You obviously havnt had a large number (96 yesterday) geese spend the night in your garden - worse than "dog-poo alley"

[Paganboat]

Surely that depends if you want a feather pillow or to get from Manchester to London

 

You obviously havnt had a large number (96 yesterday) geese spend the night in your garden - worse than "dog-poo alley"

agreed, would dog poo be acceptable if your dog ate grass?

[Ron T]

They would have to be ok done in a camp oven or the like,or maybe fillet the breast meat off and do it rare on a really hot grill or bbq!

[The Toad in the Hole]

The great and the good at Defra reckon that in terms of grass lost/ crop damage 3 canada geese are equivalent to one sheep. At one stage waxing the eggs was in vogue - supposedly kills the egg, but the geese carry on sitting, but I don't know how effective it was. netting and removal, sterilization have all been trialled, but I think in the long run killing them is the only really effective control method - that runs straight into public protest like building a brick wall on the motorway, though - but then I've had protests about sheep on nature reserves being slaughtered, which says more about people than geese, I guess.

[Ricco1]

I suffered my third (and worst) attack of the year this morning, kayaking on the Peak Forest. It's been quiet of late, I thought the 'danger' was over, they seemed more aggressive when one of a pair was on the nest. This one didn't read the rule book though. It had just chased another goose off. I should have perhaps realised it was in a murderous mood but carried on regardless. No hissing head down warning, it just flew at me. I managed to fend off the first attack. On the second one it grabbed my kayak so I swiped it over the head. It came a third time, flapping and hissing. I very nearly overbalanced and capsized as I lost control and hit a narrowboat. I was soaked to the skin.

 

It was on the bank as I made my way back, with its partner and 3 young. It just looked at me as I went past, no hissing or anything. Good job, as I was ready to kill it if it made another move.

 

It's a good job there are no swans around here, I think an encounter in a kayak would be pretty scary.

[Jerra]

The great and the good at Defra reckon that in terms of grass lost/ crop damage 3 canada geese are equivalent to one sheep. At one stage waxing the eggs was in vogue - supposedly kills the egg, but the geese carry on sitting

Providing the whole surface of the egg was covered in wax it would be completely effective. The embryo relies on oxygen passing through the shell into the air space, prevent this and the embryo dies. It would however need to cover the whole surface.

 

I would have thought giving the egg a very vigorous shake would have been equally effective as it would break the membranes etc and destroy the "life support" system.

[Athy]

I would have thought giving the egg a very vigorous shake would have been equally effective as it would break the membranes etc and destroy the "life support" system.

 

I think I would feel queasy if I did that - one might as well throw the egg at a wall.

[The Toad in the Hole]

I think I would feel queasy if I did that - one might as well throw the egg at a wall.

Ah, but if you smash the egg, it just lays another. The trick is to get it to waste time trying to incubate a dead egg

[Paganboat]

They actually prick the eggs, the idea is the geese continue to sit on them and miss the breeding season. One thing is for sure if they became near extinction they would be reintroduced like that pest the otter.

best solution wood be if canada goose tasted as good as swan does, our eastern euro friends would keep the numbers down

Edited June 11, 2014 by Paganboat

[Jerra]

reintroduced like that pest the otter.

Where and when was the Otter reintroduced? As far as I know it recovered on its own. Why is it a pest?

[Paganboat]

Where and when was the Otter reintroduced? As far as I know it recovered on its own. Why is it a pest?

come on, the otter is a pest, like a person who steals armani pants off a washing line

[mark99]

Where and when was the Otter reintroduced? As far as I know it recovered on its own. Why is it a pest?

 

 

Natural England website

 

"In the early 1980s, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England) worked with the Otter Trust to develop a reintroduction programme to support the declining otter population; the Trust eventually releasing 117 individuals between 1983 and 1999, mostly on rivers in East Anglia rivers. These reintroductions ceased after signs that otters were recovering naturally".

 

IIRC they have killed large numbers of large coarse fish (often leaving most of the fish intact - i.e death by one bite) including the largest recorded UK Barbel (from River Ouse (plus lots of other specimens) plus numerous large carp (with a value to fisheries of several thousand pounds).

 

Most inland lake fisheries now have to consider full encirclement and expensive otter fencing to keep out otters. They are a real headache to inland fisheries.

Edited June 11, 2014 by mark99

[Paganboat]

Natural England website

 

"In the early 1980s, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England) worked with the Otter Trust to develop a reintroduction programme to support the declining otter population; the Trust eventually releasing 117 individuals between 1983 and 1999, mostly on rivers in East Anglia rivers. These reintroductions ceased after signs that otters were recovering naturally".

 

IIRC they have killed large numbers of large coarse fish (often leaving most of the fish intact - i.e one bite) including the largest recorded UK Barbel on the Ouse (plus lots of other specimens) plus numerous large carp (with a value to fisheries of several thousand pounds).

 

Most inland lake fisheries now have to consider full encirclement and expensive otter fencing to keep out otters.

thanks mark, the otter is a predator that nature made scarce, lefty humans reintroduced it again

[ditchcrawler]

They actually prick the eggs, the idea is the geese continue to sit on them and miss the breeding season. One thing is for sure if they became near extinction they would be reintroduced like that pest the otter.

best solution wood be if canada goose tasted as good as swan does, our eastern euro friends would keep the numbers down

Stratford on Avon had a program of oiling the eggs a few years ago. I think they had to be done twice. http://www.stratfordsociety.co.uk/geese%20peace.htm

[Jerra]

 

 

Natural England website

 

"In the early 1980s, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England) worked with the Otter Trust to develop a reintroduction programme to support the declining otter population; the Trust eventually releasing 117 individuals between 1983 and 1999, mostly on rivers in East Anglia rivers. These reintroductions ceased after signs that otters were recovering naturally".

 

IIRC they have killed large numbers of large coarse fish (often leaving most of the fish intact - i.e death by one bite) including the largest recorded UK Barbel (from River Ouse (plus lots of other specimens) plus numerous large carp (with a value to fisheries of several thousand pounds).

 

Most inland lake fisheries now have to consider full encirclement and expensive otter fencing to keep out otters. They are a real headache to inland fisheries.

Thank you. The Otter has as much if not more right to be here than we have (it was here first) if we choose to meddle with nature by stocking fisheries etc then we must protect them (the fisheries). At least their return means that the waterways are free from organochloride pesticides which would be getting into any fish eaten from them.

 

Just my very biased opinion of course.

[The Toad in the Hole]

Thank you. The Otter has as much if not more right to be here than we have (it was here first) if we choose to meddle with nature by stocking fisheries etc then we must protect them (the fisheries). At least their return means that the waterways are free from organochloride pesticides which would be getting into any fish eaten from them.

 

Just my very biased opinion of course.

I'm not going to get too exercised if otters are reducing the number of fish in some of these chronically overstocked carp ghettos. A muddy eutrophicated hole in the ground doesn't really do it for me aesthetically. Otters, cormorants, goosanders, herons - They are basically watery grouse moors when it comes to mysterious predator losses. Otters were made scarce by righty humans, not nature

[Athy]

As a Northerner I assume that otter means "of higher temperature".