Season delayed.....by a Goose

So, I've been going up to the lake(Berryessa) to do some work on my houseboat for the last month. A month ago when I went up I went to check on my 210, which is on the lift year round. To my surprise I found Mama and 5 BIG goose eggs on my boat. Soon they were joined by Dada. We came to an understanding that they could have use of the Nautique until May. I checked today and they are still there. I'm hoping they are born in the next week or so. From what I understand it takes about 4 to 6 weeks. I posted a picture from today. You can see Mama's head if you look carefully.

Moral dilemma if I've ever seen one

No way am I going to have that on my conscience...

Ahah, I would be right there with ya Air!!

There are geese in every body of water. You can save many a people from being effected by their feces.

now she will come back every year......

Apparently, she did the same thing last year...only earlier. I noticed some shells on the boat and thought maybe an animal had a meal there. Now I know. Geese Squatters! It's all good...make for a good story.

Wow! How crazy is that?

time for and eviction notice.

If it's a Canadian goose knock the thing off....and I don't just mean off the boat.

Those things are such a pain in the A$$ up here. Half of the population needs to be terminated.

And for the record I am Canadian.

I am assuming this is a garden variety Canadian goose and they are considered game species suitable for hunting and eating. Most likely out of season and would have a tough time considering them game even if they were in season, but I wouldn't have any qualms relocating the nest. I imagine the geese have profusely decorated your dock.

breakfast?

I thought you were going to say grey goose!!

Get rid of it or it will continue to come back!!

I had a duck hatch a bunch of eggs in my boat. The mom couldn't get the babies out so we took them out of the boat and put them in the water. Except as soon as we put a couple in the water the mom took off with them and left the rest. We fed the rest baby bird formula, but they escaped out of their box and the dog ate them. Oh well.

I'm doing my part on goose population control

There is some stuff you can spray on the dock that repels the geese. I had one lay eggs on the flotation for the walkway a coule years ago. the next year there were 5 or 6 that crapped all over everything. Now I have none.

WE HAD A DEAL!!

I would have destroyed the nest. Next year, if they try nesting there again, destroy the nest. If there is a moral dilemma, don't feel bad. If the nest is destroyed in egg laying or early incubation, they will most likely re-nest somewhere else.

Props to you man! Thats great... Some serious Karma points for you..

id eat them.. tell me bout my karma points.. lol
the babies would be great raised in a cage for a while till big enough to eat also.. they are awsome for great feast

Dude, birds will destroy your boat. They will crap and rip holes in the vinyl! I had a friend whose boat was completely destroyed by birds after he left it uncovered for a weekend.

Yeah ducks love to ish on my boat and man do they take some big stinkers. Their favorite spot is sitting on the swim platform and doing the deed. If i found eggs in my boat, I wouldn't destroy them but I would move them the hell out of there.

I'm fine with it...They are almost done and I would rather have the good Karma. They did no serious damage last year so I'm sure the boat will be fine(I will however create a less comfortable nest next year) I'll be boarding in two weeks....plus they are probably keeping the raccoons away.

Good Karma?

Hell, imagine how much goose crap will be left by the new family. That's bad Karma in my eyes.

The babies are born ready to swim. Goose crap on the dock I can live with. A 5 gallon bucket and 15 minutes and it will be gone. I check the boat and I am not worried. Being older brings a more selfless attitude. I am not killing any geese or their babies. If there was goose crap on the boat cover big deal(there is not) That is why I cover the boat. Life will go on. I'll be riding in a couple weeks and I might even see a few baby geese swimming around that I know.

^^good sport.

last summer, my 210 was docked next to another 210. we both have teak swim platforms but there's gotta be something special about his because there was like a dozen of ducks/baby ducks chillin' on his teak platform..they would hang there all week long.. it was pretty cool.

I guess what is a novelty to some, is a nuisance to others.

We have had an issue with geese on our lake for the last couple years and it's getting worse. The more babies they have on the lake the more offspring come back. On several occasions I had to pickup goose crap off my beach, many times filling 4-5 wal-Mart type bags full. This is just over night. The crap carries a lot of desease. You might want to re-think the nurturing otherwise they could become a problem is they have not already.
YMMV,
JT