Canada Geese & Wild Turkey Live Trap 

Deluxe Transfer Trap, Model 609.5, is just like Tomahawk Model 109.5, but it also has the added benefit of having a rear release door. This addition, makes Model 609.5 a must-have for catching large foul like Canada Geese & Wild Turkey.  This trap can also be used for animals like bobcats, coyotes, nutria, fox, and small to medium sized dogs.

• Size = 42" x 15" x 20"
• Grid Construction = 1" x 2"
• Gauge = 12
• Weight = 50 lbs

If storage space is a concern, Model 609.5 is also available as a collapsible trap, Model 209.5. 

Collapsible Trap, Model 209.5, is the perfect alternative when storage space is a concern.

WHERE DO GEESE LIVE?

A. Geese generally nest on shorelines, islands, man-made structures and muskrat and beaver lodges. If an area provides a water source, cover for a nest and a good place for the bird to have a lookout, it is likely a goose will build its home there. Since geese most always choose to live near water, flooding is often a destructive force for goose nests. Geese are also attracted to lawns with short, mowed grass.

Lakes, marshes, fields, golf courses, ponds and reservoirs are all common areas where a goose infestation may occur, but any place that provides food and shelter for a goose may become its new home. Many golf courses, backyard ponds and even swimming pools offer both food and shelter for flocks of geese. 

If geese are nesting near your home or business, they draw other geese by decoy. Geese and other migrant waterfowl are drawn to other geese. They sense that those geese must have food and good goose shelter if they’re all gathering around. A goose’s nest will tend to be very large, sometimes up to four feet across.

WHEN ARE GEESE MOST ACTIVE?

A. Migratory geese spend the winter months in the southern United States. Some Canada geese don’t migrate at all, and those are the geese that live throughout the country year-round. Early April is the time when most geese start to build their nests, just in time for the mother goose to lay four to seven white eggs, while the male goose stands watch close by. Some geese have been known to lay up to 12 eggs at a time. Canada geese are monogamous, meaning they only have one partner. The eggs will stay in the nest for about a month, and the first week of May usually sees the most goose-egg hatchings.

For six weeks every summer, geese molt.  The loss of feathers causes them to be unable to fly during that period of time. 
 
WHAT FOODS DO GEESE EAT?

A. All geese are herbivorous grazers that enjoy eating aquatic plants and seeds, clover, cultivated grains and grasses from a lawn or golf course. An adult goose will eat up to four pounds of grass a day.

WHY SHOULD I LEARN HOW TO GET RID OF GEESE AROUND MY GOLF COURSE, POND, SWIMMING POOL OR LAWN?

A. Many people enjoy hearing the sounds of geese honking, seeing it as a sign of a season change. But geese honking all day outside your home or business can be just as loud and intrusive as the barks of an alarmed dog.

An adult goose can drop two pounds of fecal matter on your lawn and pathways daily. While eating, a goose will relieve itself every six to eight minutes. Goose droppings not only look horrible on benches, buildings, cars and lawns, but they also speed deterioration. Goose droppings can damage machinery and contaminate foods. Goose dung can burn your lawn. Sometimes, goose droppings can make a surface slick and dangerous to walk on. A large amount of goose fecal matter may produce a nasty smell and damage plants and crops. Goose fecal matter has been linked to the spread of diseases and bacterial infections.

Two geese can quickly become six. The population growth of geese ranges from 10 to 17 percent annually. And once geese find a suitable place to nest in your back yard or golf course, they are liable to come right back after their winter migration. As humans create landscaped yards with well-manicured lawns dotted with ponds and other water features, geese are finding perfect habitats in which they can thrive.

Goose droppings, nest paraphernalia and feathers can get sucked into your home’s vents and drain pipes and create a fire hazard, leading to thousands of dollars in repairs. Gutters can also be blocked, causing water to seep indoors and cause flooding.

When vents become toilets and garbage cans for geese, any disease, bug or odor that comes along with geese can contaminate the air that you breathe and any foods meant for human consumption. Mechanical units found on the roof can be damaged if goose feathers and nesting get caught in the fans.

Simply due to the natural circle of life, geese die.  Their smells, parasites and diseases are left behind to affect you, your family and employees.

GEESE ARE AROUND MY LAWN, GOLF COURSE, SWIMMING POOL OR POND. WHAT OTHER GOOSE DAMAGE IS THERE?

A. Geese have excellent homing capabilities and will return to the same nesting site, even if the nest has been damaged or removed. Leaving a flock of geese on your property can be a real liability because of slip-and-fall hazards and contamination from droppings and nest materials. Expensive regular cleanup costs would need to be factored in to the home or business budget if geese are left to live on lawns or golf courses.

All these goose pest problems will affect the value of your property. It is difficult to sell a home that has a goose infestation and actually, it’s required by law that you fix the goose problem before you sell your home. Property value can decrease between five percent and ten percent due to goose flock problems.

Geese are territorial birds and will not hesitate to protect their nest and eggs from a human or house pet they see as a threat. An aggressive adult goose can easily knock down a child or senior citizen, and geese can fly up to 50 mph. An aggressive goose will hiss at you and rear its head and then perhaps charge. Geese will fly up and hit a human, cat or dog in the face. This is especially likely if the goose has nested in a place near human traffic, including a parking lot or shrubbery near a building.

Geese can cause agricultural damage to your yard, field or golf course through eating and trampling on the vegetation. If high goose numbers exist in shallow waters, their droppings can change the water’s ecology and cause bacterial and algae problems. Geese and their eggs have several predators, including raccoons, skunks, fox and coyotes. If a flock of geese nests on your lawn or golf course, these other animal pests will be attracted to your property, bringing all their dangers and nuisances with them.

I  HEARD GEESE CARRY DISEASES. IS THAT TRUE?

A. Geese do carry diseases, including swimmer’s itch, histoplasmosis, toxoplasmosis, and giardia. These goose illnesses are spread by contact with goose poop, nest materials and dead geese.

When geese live in your pond, swimming pool or nearby lake, parasites that live on the geese will infest the water and climb aboard swimmers, giving them swimmer’s itch. The parasite larvae crawl onto the skin and burrow under it, which leads to a very severe, itchy red rash. The itching will last for up to two weeks; each time a person gets swimmer’s itch the symptoms become more severe.

Histoplasmosis is a fungus disease contracted through airborne spores in goose droppings. If geese have been on your lawn for a while, these spores can even infect the soil you garden in. Its symptoms may be anything from a mild influenza to blood abnormalities and fever, or even death. An eye condition has been linked to the goose disease histoplasmosis and can lead to blindness in those who contract it.

Toxoplasmosis is an infection that invades human tissue and can severely damage the central nervous system, especially in babies. Pregnant women are in extreme danger if infected with toxoplasmosis.

Geese carry the bacteria salmonella. People who pick up salmonella bacteria can become seriously ill with diarrhea, vomiting, fever and chills. Salmonella can also affect the blood. Goose salmonella can be spread through goose fecal matter.

If a human touches soil or water that has been tainted with goose droppings, and then touches his or her mouth, that human is at risk for giardia. Giardia symptoms can include cramps, bloating, diarrhea, fatigue and weight loss, and can last for a prolonged amount of time. Children who play near ponds or lakes with geese living nearby are especially at risk for giardia.

DO CONENOSE PARASITES AND OTHER BUGS REALLY LIVE ON GEESE?

A. Little critters can get a ride on a goose’s back.  The closer you are to geese, the more chance you have of coming into contact with mites, ticks, fleas, lice, conenose bugs and other nibbling insects.

Bed bugs and swallow bugs are closely related parasites that can bite humans, causing itchy red welts all over the body.

Conenose bugs are bloodsucking parasites that can feed off humans. Bites from conenose bugs sometimes produce allergic reactions, which can be cause for concern in certain individuals. A bite may produce itchy welts or swelling of the tongue, larynx and trachea.

Several cases of mites biting humans indoors have been reported.

Ticks are very mobile and have been known to crawl down into buildings that geese are nesting near, and travel great distances to attach themselves to people.  

If a goose brings fleas near your home, most likely the biting bug will hop onto your house pet’s back. Once inside, large flea populations can build up quickly. Fleas live on the outside of their hosts’ bodies and need to feed on blood in order to produce eggs.

Goose lice are not capable of living off a human host, but they do bite humans on occasion.

A goose bug living in a nest can become an infestation in your pantry or carpet in no time. One or two mites may stray from the goose nest and crawl along your kitchen table. But if the goose abandons its nest for any reason, the whole caboodle of goose bugs will enter your home, looking for a new host. This is why it’s especially important to have removed the goose nests and other garbage after all the geese have been trapped.

Geese are a liability for businesses, restaurants, golf courses and swimming pools. Goose diseases or goose bugs may infect your employees, guests or food. There are documented cases of illnesses occurring in these situations, and the plaintiff successfully sues the owner of the business. Also, if you are an employer and your workers’ environment is being contaminated by geese, you will see a drop in productivity due to illness.

SHOULD I TRAP OR KILL GEESE MYSELF

A. It is illegal to kill geese or to disturb their nests or eggs without express permission. Besides, simply killing the geese yourself doesn’t do any good, as more will come back later. Goose prevention measures have to be taken to make sure they don’t nest there again. The goose waste and nest materials need to be cleaned up, too. This task requires proper clothing and respitory gear so that you don’t expose yourself, your family or co-workers to conenose bugs and disease-ridden droppings.

Homeowners may try to take matters into their own hands by shooting and poisoning geese. First of all, this is illegal activity. Illegal use of poison can affect pets and people. Shooting causes even more goose problems, besides the fact that it’s illegal to shoot a gun in most urban and suburban areas.  Use of decoys and traps are the best alternative.  Note: In some areas, a permit is required to trap and kill or release Canada Geese & Wild Turkeys.  ShopTJB is just providing you a means to catch the fowl.  What you do afterwards with your catch is up to you.

WHAT BAIT WORKS BEST FOR TRAPPING GEESE & TURKEYS?

A.The most effective bait is the use of corn and by scattering a few handfuls widely then concentrating the remainder on a few stringers running out 4 or 5 feet beyond the entrance.

Ear corn is preferable to shelled corn for use inside the traps, as it retains the birds inside longer. Busily feeding geese or turkeys in the trap often induce the more wary foul outside to enter.

The cardinal rule In baiting is not to overfeed the geese or turkeys outside a trap. If long leads or stringers of grain are available at the entrances, the birds become satiated and take little interest in the food inside the trap.

For more in-depth information about managing and control of Canada Geese, go to: http://www.berrymaninstitute.org/pdf/urbangeese.pdf  It provides a good overview for implementing an integrated damage management program. 

What damage do bobcats, coyotes, or dogs do?
Bobcats will wipe out small to medium sized domestic animals. This includes calf’s, goats, house cats, small dogs, chickens, rabbits and anything else the Bobcat can catch. Bobcat trapping is the most effective way to remove unwanted Bobcats.

Your cats and dogs are easy prey as well as any livestock a Coyote sets his mind on. Coyote carry the rabies virus as well as other disease. As people build ponds stocked with fish, and other live animals, coyotes find these areas and quickly begin to feed on the bounty. Coyotes love eggs and can cause huge financial losses to both the commercial farmer as well as the weekend gardener. A coyote can become a problem when their feeding leads them to our gardens, livestock or pets. Coyote are more likely to eat garden vegetables and fruit. Because of how they forage, damage is quick and complete.

Feral dogs are a danger to everyone since they have no fear of humans. People who abandon animals are causing a terrible situation, let alone what they are doing to the dog. A pack of wild dogs is an accident waiting to happen and you or a child might be the victim. Feral or stray dogs also kill small animals, cats, chickens and sometimes carry rabies.

What bait should I use for bobcats, coyotes, or dogs?
Bobcats like any spiced meat like slim-jims, hot dogs or dehydrated meat products. Sardines have also proven effective for Bobcat trapping.

Coyotes prefer chicken, eggs, meat products, and smelly sardines seems to draw them as well.

Feral dogs are attracted to almost any beef food product, hotdogs work great.

Where should I place bobcat, coyote, or dog traps?
Place the Bobcat trap in a flat area where the Bobcat has been hunting, or has been seen.

The Coyote is a nocturnal animal that averages about 35 pounds, and comes out at night to hunt and forage.  It is best to set the traps during the day around and near the problem areas, or if you know where the Coyote den is.  Keep the Coyote trap near wooded areas, so the Coyote does not feel threatened.

Feral dog traps can be placed anywhere that the dog travel.