I've seen a few threads about the danger of squirels and deer, but my biggest bike path foe has to be the Canada Goose. Our city is lousy with them. And, unlike other critters, they rarely get out of the way. They're normally in a group, and on occasion they attack. On a busy bike path, this means having to completely stop on occasion and wait for the giant feathered rats to move. I have yet to hit one straight on, but I've clipped a few as they scurry at the last moment and take off in front of me.

Am I the only one that HATES these animals?

There are hundreds of Canada Geese all along the Lakeshore MUP here in Toronto. They do seem to "stand their ground" and take their own sweet time time getting out of the way. LOL! At least their egress, unlike squirrels (the twitchy bastards), is somewhat predictable. The worst thing about Canadian Geese, in my book anyway, is their crap. That stuff is slippery!! Honk honk!

Commuting too, They're just passing through, It's How Annual Migrations work..

Were you happier in the middle of Winter before they came Northward from their over- wintering Places?

Back when I lived in the US, It was not uncommon for geese to run after cyclists, or even fly right at then like cruise missiles. This is especially true, as they would make their nests near bike trails. A friend of mine hit one at speed, accidentally he said. The bike was fine, but did it ever make a feathery mess. Here in Georgia, it's stray dogs that are the biggest problems.

we have over a 100,000 of them in town as permanent residents. The only time I have ever gone down commuting was hitting a huge patch of goose crap, several must have been there for a while, as I was going around a corner in the park. I don't hate them but they are more annoying than squirrels around here.

Also currently training a new set of deer, I think, the last two nights in a row 3 does have crossed the trail in front of me. I keep thinking that two of the does are the same ones that I almost hit last spring when they were fawns. I was on a rare beach cruiser ride from one end of town through the other and had to lock up with the coaster brake and they just froze up and stared at me until I came to a stop 2-feet away. Now they are just screwing with me.

mattgmann, I with you on the geese. They are all over the place and have made some park areas near me unusable because their droppings are so thick. I usually just have to slow down for them and shout at them. A couple of times when they have been aggressive towards me I take the offensive and chase after them and they quickly realize that they are outmatched.

On the lighter side of things...the closest call that I have ever had with a critter happened to me last summer while riding a rail trail. It was early in the morning and the sun had just barely started coming over the horizon. I was riding along at leisurely pace of probably 12 or 13 MPH when a great horned owl flew across the path right in front of my face. It was so close that if I hadn't had my hands in my bars that I could have reached out and grabbed it. It startled me so much that I almost wrecked (and filled my bike shorts). Kind of freaked me out too because you don't realize how big they are until you see one up close.

They're awful! The airzound does nothing and they've learned over time that we're not going to just kill/hunt them.

I was reading this again and should point out that I'm pretty grateful to have access to bike paths that have deer and geese. I have spent time watching fox kits play around their den, a few drag races with raccoons, watched the trout rising like boiling water during a really good hatch. I'll keep the geese if that means I get to keep the rest of it also.

As much as I dread sharing the bike trail again and the typical strong headwinds, spring is a great time time to bike for the senses.

Oh, they don't go away here. A large number of geese tend to winter over in the city. In a few weeks all of their buddies will return. Then they start banging, and fighting (other geese and people and dogs), and then there's goslings to deal with.

Geese = rats with wings.

All the MUPs around Schaumburg IL were covered in goose crap, and for that reason alone I ran fenders on all my bikes when I lived there. Motorola once had to hire a contractor to pressure-wash their entire parking lot because the goose crap was being tracked into the buildings by employees.

I was attacked a number of times by the vermin. Funniest time was when one launched off the ground head-on at me, and one of my mtn brake levers caught it right in the chest and knocked it backward out of the air.

On another occasion, one of them was safely off to the side of the MUP, but as I approached, the dumb thing made a mad dash across the MUP right in front of me, and I ran over it. It felt surprisingly firm, (like a football), and launched me into the air. Last seen, it was sitting in the pond squawking it's unhappiness.

If there were trout rising along my ride to work, I'd never make it there.

No geese run-ins yet, but two ducks had me worried on the MUP earlier this week as I was rolling home. They were just standing there, equidistant from either side of the path and with maybe two feet between them clear down the middle. I slowed some and rolled right between them, but I kept expecting one of them to take flight right into my front wheel as I rolled past. I was having such a peaceful ride home I didn't want to blast them with the Airzoundz, besides it seemed kind of rude.

Noooo.... pigeons are rats with wings, and they're everywhere; even managed to clip a couple while riding! Although now that I think of it, geese are much larger and heavier than pigeons, so I wouldn't want to hit or be hit by one.

Possums with wings?

When dealing with geese blocking the MUP, you need to use language they understand.

Geese don't understand most human-made noises, so yelling or ringing your bell doesn't help. Nor does a loud freehub. Those noises just aren't in either their vocabulary, or their dictionary.

If you've ever been charged by an angry goose, you know they hiss. Not Sssss like a snake, but an open-beaked Hahhhhhh. Hiss at them like that and they scatter quickly.

Yeah, the geese are year round here, and very thick. I ran over one a couple years ago - it was like going over a rotten log, not bad at all.

Funny thing was,,,,,,,,,,,,,, he got up and flew away!

Hissing at them seems to be the best at getting their attention...................

Fenders required, unless you are wearing OD...................

I like 'em. I go down to the lakes and feed their little yellow babies when it's the season. Yea they poo. What doesn't?

I don't hate geese, but they can be very aggressive. I rather hit a goose than hit a deer...laws of physics.

I pay (in Canadian dollars even) to see you do that...

yes, the crap is the worst.

frequently they block the path and i wait a minute for them to go.

if one starts threat posturing and coming toward me i get off my bike and swat them with it.

I also spread my arms out, like they do their wings.

I never see them on my bike ride but I encounter them at Minto Brown park in Salem, OR when I go running there. Once I had gone off the path and tried to go around a goose (gander? dunno) who was hogging the trail. He was not satisfied though and came after me anyway. I demonstrated that, at 175 fairly fit pounds, I can defeat a goose in single combat. Yay me!

Thanks for the tip! I'll have "make like Dr. Doolittle" and try that. LOL!

i like geese watching people run from them always makes me laugh but swans are even more fun i have a warped mind i know

I find my air zound works well too scare them off.

Geese have more meat & taste better.