If there are geese there, you could be in trouble. They poop everywhere!

Google "problems with Canadian geese" and really think about it! Their poop is plentiful, large, and greasy, and you will slip and slide all over your lawn, walk--wherever they decide to hang out. They are very vocal, with an unpleasant honk. They are protected in many places, so it's almost impossible to get rid of them, and here you need a permit to shake their eggs to keep them from hatching--assuming you can find the eggs. Grass and water together are heaven for them. If I recall correctly, it takes something like 7 minutes for the grass they eat to turn to poop, and an adult goose poops one pound a day.

Anne

Last resort - adopt a large dog that is described as not good with cats and small dogs and it might take care of the geese!

Seriously, I don't see too many downsides to having a pond, just need to check into the usual common sense things, such as personal liability and flooding potential during heavy rains, etc. We had a large pond/wetlands at our previous house in the Boston burbs ... miss that house!

Most people are afraid of large birds, but geese will back down if you stand your ground and have a weapon handy to wave around (golf club, large golf umbrella - this one really freaks them out when open). The only thing that truly scared the geese on our property was on a dark rainy day when a coyote came running down to our pond ... never saw the geese move so fast!

spring-fed means as long as the level of the spring isn't too low you will have a steady level of water and I don't think you need to aerate the pond for fish etc.

Depending on the area you are in you may or may not have to worry about flooding.

Geese and ducks can be a nuisance with their poop everywhere.

If you have kids that can't swim and even if they can you need to be careful so they don't drown. Ie supervise them near the pond and even when they are just outside. We have a pond next to our 4 acres and it can take my daughter no time to get there if she wanted to.

We have several ponds in the neighborhood and only one is spring fed the other mainly collect run-off and will get low during the summer vs. the one the spring fed one that remains the same level.

During very heavy rains one of the ponds collects a lot of rain water that then overflows down into a creek, this is very swift moving water so need to be careful with kids. The spring fed one does the same. The other 2 ponds don't seem to overflow even when we had 10" of rain in just a few hours.

You want to make sure the house is higher than the pond to avoid flooding issues.

Coyote decoys can be helpful, might need to reposition them from time to time.

Our geese "laughed" at the coyote decoy and were quickly feeding right next to it!

We live on a lake and geese are just a part of nature. Chase them off with a broom!
Love lake living, geese and all.

Border Collie for goose control.

hi thriving:

A city girl might get overwhelmed with a 4 acre property, even if 1 acre is a pond.

1. what questions can I ask so that I can fully understand what we are getting into?

Ask about other wildlife, and about the trees and flaura - is it natural...tended...native - stuff like that.

2. The lot is 4 acres total, the "spring fed" pond is 1 acre - too much?

Does it flood, is it clean / does the pond need any kind of maintenance?

3. There were 4 geese there when we just went to look - in January. Is this a hint that I will definitely have geese to worry about?

Ask about them, and do look over the area for nesting and pooping. Maybe they are territorial in your neck and they don't like others joining them. Or maybe they are the settlers who come early each year to make ready for the flock. YIKES, then!

5. What are the benefits, if any, to a "spring fed" pond vs. other.

No idea, other than hopefully it does not gather moss, scum, mosquito and other nasties.

Sounds like a nice big place and if the house is the draw, make sure you are prepared to see after the property as well.

Let us know what you learn. A pretty pond can also be pretty nightmare ;)

Is there a stream too? To be certain about flood zones check the updated flood zone maps on Fema's website. ....Could be a pricey addition to your insurance.
If there are a lot of geese, have the water tested before ever considering swimming in it.

Thank you all! Well, we went back to look at the home & property again today. I found out that the pond is fed by six springs, and that we are the "starting point" pretty much for anyone else in the area. Ours feeds most all other ponds, water on other properties. There is also a small stream coming from the pond and leading off-site. We may need to clean out the area, since the s mall stream part has quite a bit of "debris" mainly small trees and broken branches. whew. Most of our small party there today were jazzed about the pond. Geese were down a bit on the neighbors property today while we were there. Still 4 or 5.

The one post about the border collie made me laugh. We've got three small dogs, approximately 10 lbs. a piece. They are Bichon Frise. I envisionedT them charging the geese about twice, before the geese catch on, and start chasing back.

We also saw an owl carcass in the original barn that's still on the premises. I think checking out the wildlife is going to play an important role in keeping our three little ones safe.

A spring-fed pond may be cool-to-cold (for swimming) for a long time into the summer if the house is in the north.

Ours has mysterious-feeling, cool ribbons of spring water flowing within the water in the pond.

A spring-fed pond can still have algae, scum, assorted miserable vegetation (millfoil, etc.). Since you're at the head of the watershed, though, you won't have issues with what others dump in upstream.

I absolutely adore our pond and its associated surrounding wetlands (more than 40 acres in all) - it informs my daily life in constant ways from the moment I up to wake up ducks splashing to the moment I fall asleep listening to the pond-critters peacefully chatting about their day. Even in the depths of winter in northern NY it "talks" because the ice cracks and moans.

It even appears inside my house because the light sparkling off the surface in a breeze dances on my ceilings (even though I'm 300 feet away and nearly 40 feet higher up the slope.)

It's a useful resource for water (though not always for drinking w/o boiling) in summer power outages as you can just pour water down the toilets to flush them. And, of course if your pond is close enough to your driveway that fire trucks could stretch a line to it (or set up a dry hydrant) it could always be used to fight a house fire w/o the need to haul water if you happen to live in a rural area without hydrants, as I do. That may reduce your fire insurance costs, or save yours or a neighbor's house. As a city girl you are probably used to seeing fire trucks connecting to water at hydrants. In the country every blasted drop has to be sucked up out of a pond or river and then trucked to the fire scene and dumped into temporary, ariticial reservoirs before it can be pumped out to fight a fire. So as you might guess having a ready source of water makes a huge difference in an emergency. What arrives on the fire trucks lasts just a few minutes, enough to the knock a fire down sufficiently to have a chance of people rescue. After that to actutally put the fire out a laborious tanker truck relay must be set up. Very time consuming.

You might be able to do a little skating on it. You might enjoy swimming in it (depends on the presence of, and your tolerance for "critters"). You can float in a boat, or canoe in it. You can fish in it.

The goose problem can be reduced it you don't have mown grass surrounding the pond. Although there are thousands of geese that come to our corn fields, it's very rare to have them nest by the pond because we just keep unmowed (except for narrow walking paths for us) water meadow vegetation around it, so it's too risky for them to raise goslings. The once every decade-or-so ultra-brave geese parents that do have little waddle-y goslings aren't too hard to put up with - and we never, ever feed them. But if you choose to have a city-park lawn, or a golf-course look, then all goose bets are off. They LOVE that.

Don't worry about the owl carcase. Owls die, too; but usually from natural causes, not predators except for teenage boys with guns and from poisoning due to eating human-poisoned rodents. (Small owls like Screech Owls can die at the hands of Great Horned ones, but you wouldn't find any carcase in that case, just a few stray feathers). Some owls live in barns (Barn Owls, of course!) and are excellent "tenants" to have. A dead owl in the barn is most likely one who lived there, so chances are another one will re-use the resource eventually - lucky you!

Owls are also one of the secret deilghts in a wetland. They may watch you, but you will generally only hear them.

Even the largest of our owls in North America, the Great Horned Owl wouldn't be too likely to seize a squirwmy, yappy, energetic little Bichon. However, a very hungry coyote might in some areas, but usually they are more interested in cats, rabbits, very young fawns, chickens and road kill.

With small children, a pond may be a concern. And there's always the chance of tragedy even if only adults live at the house.

But the richness and joy of having any pond is incomparable in my opinion, and a natural one is even better.

L.

If you're inclined to think of wildlife as a "nuisance" I'd avoid the pond (or any other rural location). I grew up with a somewhat larger pond and have missed it ever since. Countless hours were spent exploring the flora and fauna, and fortunately my folks didn't panic about a few leeches and taught me not to as well. It made a wonderful place to grow up and learn to love nature, goose poop and all.

(our recent next door neighbor moved into a house bordering a wetland and wildlife preserve and proceeded to make herself and the rest of us crazy with trying to citify the region.

Be aware of wetland setbacks for any construction or septic fields-- they can be 500 ft for a stream.

One nice advantage to a spring fed pond is a constant water level. I personally enjoy all the ponds I have on my property. Mine is out in the country so I have all types of wildlife come visit the ponds to drink from deer and coyotes to ducks stopping by to visit.

If you want a home with a pond then a spring fed one would be preferable to one that is filled by runoff/rain fall only.

Too many unknowns to make any other recommendations about the pond.

Geese, you don't want them roaming from the pond into your yard.

Growing up we had a spring-fed pond on our property. We also had a sump pump in the basement. And I remember on two occasions/Springtime seasons having a spring-fed pond in the basement! I would avoid property with water at all costs now.

That pond had nothing to do with your basement flooding.

We have a quarter-acre spring fed pond (and a bone-dry basement). I love it... endlessly beautiful and populated by fish and birds. The pond was the "wow" factor that made us fall in love with this house. That said, any time toddlers visit we have to keep a very, very sharp eye on them for safety. But if the idea of dealing with Canada geese or their poop bothers you, you might want to rethink country life. Critters, creepy crawlies, poop and mud are everywhere.

please send that spring fed pond to my 4 acres in south texas, we'd love to have it

Wow that is a gorgeous pond! Enjoy your home & the beauty, totally beats suburban life any day :-)

All the obsession with Canada Geese seems weird...seems like that should be the least of your problems. Yes, if you have a pond you WILL have geese, but that doesn't seem like a big issue. Even small dogs have a decent chance of scaring off Canada Geese. One warning: Ducks have been known to lure dogs far out into the water in the hopes of tiring them out and drowning them.

Pros:
1.) Gorgeous Views
2.) Great for birdwatching
3.) Water source in case of Zombie Apocalypse.
4.) Source of "Grey Water" to water your lawn
5.) Fireflies
6.) Natural swimming pool

Cons:
1.) Wetland Protection laws may make parts of your land protected wetlands you can't do anything with
2.) Drowning Risk for kids
3.) Mosquitoes
4.) Means high water table...Flooding risks? (The pond could cause flooding it it is near the house and overflows. A bigger concerns is the springs suggest a high water table that could cause flooding. )

Things to Ask:
1.) How much land is a protected wetland?
2.) Does the basement flood? (Look for signs of flooding)
3.) What were the results of a perk test where the house was built? The septic tank? (Maybe do a perk test?)
4.) Any possibility of putting in a well to water the plants during a drought?
5.) Does the pond overflow in the rain? How far?
6.) Any signs of erosion?
7.0 Does the appraisal value reflect unusable wetlands?

This post was edited by edlincoln on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 16:25

I understand the deal about Canada geese. They can be extremely annoying and territorial. A few can turn into many. They're a quite a nuisance in Canada and their population is exploding such they are no longer protected (but there are still restrictions on hunting).

I love watching tourists approach the "nice geese" in our local wildlife park -- they quickly learn to keep their distance! My FIL had Canada geese at a pond at his work. They chased visitors all over the parking lot! He actually bought an employee a herding dog to "discourage" the geese. Didn't work - they scared the dog.

Point is, there's country living with cute little wildlife, then there's country living with a population explosion of very annoying animals that attack you, poop everywhere, and are super loud. I love the country but I'd be hard pressed to get into a property with a large resident goose population. (PS My granddad kept a flock of domestic geese on the farm as watchdogs -- they worked great and kept visitors away, just the way he liked it. All y'all who've been chased down a dirt lane by a huge angry goose know what I'm talking about!)

The geese sound like our local peacocks, people who don't live with them think they are beautiful,lovely creatures. Those who have them living on their property hate em.

Noisy, noisy....

Thriving, the pond is beautiful and I am green with envy! I wish you many happy years in your new home.

Liriodendron, if you aren't a writer, you should be. You painted such a beautiful picture of your home and the pond that I could visualize it clearly and wished I was there.

You are both fortunate to be living in a place surrounding you with such majestic paintings!

We live on the water I have a stock pile bottle rockets. Fire a couple over them and they scatter real fast. 😁