Do geese poop while flying? How do these birds handle the call of nature when they’re all the way in midair?
We see the telling evidence that splashes on sidewalks and car windows, so we have an inkling of the answer. However, are big geese built the same as smaller birds that can poop while in flight? There have been horror stories all over the country, so is this fear justified?
If you are curious about the answer, read on to find out more!
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Do Geese Poop While Flying?
Yes, it is a fact that geese poop when they fly! There is a reason to watch out whenever you see these majestic birds in the sky.
In fact, there is an infamous incident in Disneyland California in 2017. A flock of geese lets loose upon a crowd that included both adults and children.
It came as such a shock that the Anaheim Police Department reported on the scene. They brought with them a hazmat team to determine what to do with the discovered substance. Thankfully, they determined the cause to be the geese in flight and assured everyone that they were healthy and safe – though a thorough clean-up would be in order!
While geese do poop in midair, they are more likely to move their bowels when they are safe on land. They have a unique diet amongst the majority of birds, in that they are grazing birds, with activity comparable to that of a cow. This means that their diet is composed of different food – and can eat grass, grain, roots, shoots, seeds, stems, and insects. This rich diet also causes them to have a lot of mass to deal with.
How Much Do Geese Poop In A Day?
This heavy load in the stomach needs to be dealt with one way or another, and unfortunate bystanders will need to bear the brunt of the incident. There is an estimate that geese excrete poop pretty often, with a range of a few minutes to an hour.
Their poop can even reach a whole pound in weight every day. This depends on the season and the kinds of feed that they are grazing on. This constant excreting happens more on land while not in flight, but that frequency does make one nervous!
However, more often than not geese fly quite high, causing any of their surprise droppings to break up into less menacing messes in the air. While still gross and problem someone will have to deal with, it isn’t as much of a mess as one would expect.
Do geese poop while flying? Seeing geese flying may make you wary of staying outdoors, but it still isn’t as likely as the horror stories make it out to be.
When Do Birds Poop More Often?
Do birds poop while flying? We know that’s the universal truth – that it happens, and is even called an omen of bad luck!
But you don’t have to worry too much – most birds poop before they fly. This is because they have a tendency to let loose their cloaca when they’ve had the opportunity to feed, and they are usually closer to the ground when this happens.
Before the flight, birds tend to release two types of wastes from their systems: a distinct white substance that is a product of the liver and the kidneys, and a dark waste that is a product of the digestive tract. Letting loose this waste before they take off helps them keep unbothered in the air for longer.
Another factor is the fact that they are not eating anything during their flight, so there’s still space in their system to hold any residual waste that their bodies may have generated during their journey in the air. It would be a while until they touch down and feed again that they will be processing more food in their systems and producing a whole new bunch of waste to get rid of.
While that is true, can you imagine if they didn’t regularly empty themselves during or after they feed? The menace in the skies would multiply that much more!
How To Clean Off Bird Poop
If bird poop littering your space is becoming more of a nuisance than you can stand, here are some tips and tricks that will help you handle bird poop in and around your home.
Use A Pressure Washer
Walls and concrete walkways will benefit from a good old power wash, and even the stalest of bird poop is likely to come out under strong pressure.
Use Special Cleansers or Hot Water
If you’re handling poop on more delicate objects, such as a car or a piece of outdoor furniture or cloth, then special cleansers can help break up the nasty poop stains. Hot water can also help soften the amount if the spot has already completely dried.
Use Covers for your Car and other Appliances
Do you have vehicles and other outdoor belongings that you want to keep safe and sound? Sometimes, it’s better to be proactive and prepare all the stops to make sure droppings won’t make it to the surface of your precious things.
Special tarps or covers for cars, bicycles, grills, furniture, and the like will likely save your belonging not only from bird poop but from many elements of nature as well. They provide good shields from droppings especially when they are not in need. They are also easy to clean and reuse.
It’s better to be safe than sorry!
Conclusion
Do geese poop while flying? Bird poop is a nuisance to deal with, and goose droppings can be a particularly nasty topic. Instead of warily watching the skies in places swarming with these large birds, you can relax knowing that they’re more likely to have done their business on the ground than in the sky.
Still – if it’s a particularly unlucky day – geese do have a tendency to poop in the sky and you may be a victim of their surprise packages.
Have you dealt with goose poop before? How did you react and handle the situation? Let us know your funny stories, experiences, and clean-up life hacks in the comments below.
