need goose proof flowers!

[neparose]

Hi all!
My family has a problem we've been dealing with for years and I'm hoping some of you guys will chime in. We have several family members buried in a cemetary that is situatated by a marsh. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it is also home to a rather large goose population. The problem, besides goose poop all over the place, is that they go through the cemetary and eat any and all flowers we put there. I know we could go artificial but they just seem so , well, artificial. Does anyone here who has or does keep geese, know of any flowers they tend to avoid?
rose

[TEX]

Maybe rose bushes?

[oldtimer]

Roses, peonies, iris, and day lilies are hardy and at least our tame geese have never touched them. For some reason they like hybrid lilies and love moss roses.

[Equilibrium]

They have their "favorites" when it comes to yummies for their tummies but more often than not..... we end up putting a bandaid on a festering wound that's capable of getting out of hand if we aren't able to get to the "root" of the problem. Their numbers have grown to the point they've become a nuisance as well as a public health concern just like cats and pigeons. We have so many we end up with several boil orders on our water annually due to the sheer volume of feces leaching into our soil making its way to our water. They're protected under the migratory bird treaty act so we're sorta hobbled but permits for oiling are usually pretty easy to get and it's not like you'd be dealing with anything chemical.... their eggs are oiled with plain ole vegetable oil... which is relatively inexpensive. Oiling the eggs is pretty easy and takes like hardly any time at all.... they'll give you a sheet of "dos and don'ts" when you're issued a permit.... just don't try to do it by yourself if you choose this route..... geese can get aggressive... really aggressive guarding their nests. Oiling/Addling would definitely help cut down the number of them considerably and if you spent a coupla hours a year out there for a few years in a row..... you'd be a very happy camper with the results. Other than that, I'd look into getting permission to start zigzagging monofilament line 6 or 7' in on the banks of any open water source nearby. The marshes provide cover but it's generally the open and accessible water that keeps em coming back year after year. Fishing line screws them up landing and if it's installed properly..... they'll move on to become another community's nightmare. I'm sure someone from the county or state would provide guidance if someone showed an interest in doing something.... it doesn't take that long to do either.... you'd just be ramming stakes in water then winding the fishing line around them stake to stake basically. I'm sure I've got a few photos of "geese management" projects I could show you if you're interested. These are just two more ideas that might provide you with some long term relief.

[CountryBertha]

I have geese and about the only thing they won't eat are grown fig trees. My hens are who dig up the fig trees when they are going after snakes. How many times have we found fig trees dug completely out of the ground?? A lot. How many times have the geese gotten loose and denuded the garden and the lawn? I cringe to think about it.

What happens, I think, in your case is the geese think you are feeding them when you put out the flowers on the graves. So, they will keep going there for their treats. Ducks also love flowers. A bunch of ducks got in my pansy bed and what they didn't eat, they pulled out of the ground.

What old timers used to do here in Texas (and still do in some areas) is cover the grave with stones or seashells, and never put out flowers or planted anything around the graves. Texas has a lot of wildlife and wildlife is everywhere here. And they do compete with us.

An unusual problem that arises here in Texas concerning graves in family graveyards is when the wildlife is kept away, the entire family graveyard will quickly get covered in vines, including poison ivy. I know of one family graveyard that had to simply be fenced off after poison ivy got in there. The stuff grew like crazy, everywhere and now they can't even hire anyone to mow it. There is another vine here in Texas, I don't know what it is, but that stuff will literally grow overnight. This year I've got a mess of it suddenly covering one section of the fence right now.

Dunno if there's an easy answer to your issue other than just stop putting out the flowers.

Equilibrium, that's a heck of a goose problem y'all have. Do you know why the geese and their eggs aren't allowed to be harvested for food? Geese only lay from January/Feb to May, and it's one egg a day. If their nests are found and monitored, I don't know why they couldn't be taken for food.

Geese do get aggressive. None of our animals were aggressive until after Paw had his accident and they all think it's their job to defend and protect him now. Even the geese began biting. Wild geese and wild ducks migrate into our area twice a year but they generally stay down by the river or at the lake. These are huge flocks of birds, and at night you can hear those geese honking at raccoons, squirrels or whatever animal roams through while they are there.

[Equilibrium]

"Equilibrium, that's a heck of a goose problem y'all have." They're not just calling for boil orders in my state.... this is a widespread problem across the nation. Do a search for boil + order + water + geese or deer. There's flat out too many geese and no chance at controlling their numbers due to an ongoing loss of higher order predators. Same thing with bambis. Hunters are openly vilified these days which is a shame. Hunters are declining in numbers as hunting is increasingly frowned upon. Our vehicles get some but without the help of hunters.... I don't see much hope bringing their numbers down.