Geese will bite, grab and whack with their wings if you approach a nest, or sometimes for the heck of it.

Birds generally follow this rule of thumb: The larger the bird, the more frightening it is (hummingbirds excluded).

At about 7 to 14 pounds and 2 to 3 feet in height, an adult Canada goose is no clawed cassowary (nor is it a jacket). Even still, any bird willing to attack humans positions itself as potential foe worthy of some trepidation.

The Canada goose, nearly 80,000 of which call New Jersey home, is normally wary. Approach one and it will often waddle or fly away.

Venture too close to a nest, generally about 150 feet inland from a lake shore, and one may find a significantly more aggressive bird, however.

Signs of imminent battle include: aggressive head pumping, an open bill displaying a raised tongue, hissing, honking and vibrating head feathers, according to a report from the Cornell Department of Ornithology. Eventually, the bird may relent to a bite or grab with its mouth. Vigorous wing whacking is also possible.

A National Geographic report lists the weight limit for a Canada goose at 19.8 pounds; the max wingspan at 5.6 feet.

Even at a lesser size, an adult Canada goose can do some damage (to one’s pride at least), as a golfer in Michigan learned in 2018. Dumped on his head by a flying goose assailant, the golfer’s tribulation went viral.

Golfers and geese have historically held an adversarial relationship. The conflicts come as Canada geese tend to occupy areas with manicured grass around water features, said Fred Lubnow, the director of aquatic programs at Ringoes-based environmental consulting firm Princeton Hydro.

Those features are common to not only golf courses, but two other beloved landscapes of New Jersey: corporate centers and lake communities.

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“They love New Jersey,” said Lawrence Hajna, a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman. “Who doesn’t?”

So New Jerseyans and Canada geese have something in common. Isn't there room for two?

“We like our wildlife, but we don’t like them too close,” Hajna joked.

They poop a lot, Lubnow said.

Unlike arguably more tolerable birds that eat seeds, fruit, insects or other animals, Canada geese eat grass and other non-woody vegetation and process it relatively quickly, Lubnow said, calling them “cows with feathers.”

“On average, Canada geese poop about 28 times a day, which results in them generating a high amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that ends up washing into lakes and ponds,” he said.

National Geographic reports 50 geese can produce 2.5 tons of poop each year. Their average lifespan is 24 years. Of local waterfowl, only cormorants discharge more nutrients with their bowel movements on a given day, Lubnow said.

Roughly 40 years ago, Canada geese birds were almost exclusively a migrant species in New Jersey. Federal and state protections, landscape changes and a warmer climate and helped boost the number of resident birds from about 30,000 in 1992 to more than 100,000 by 2000, state records show.

The resident birds belong to a non-migratory, region-specific subspecies of Canada goose established in the early 20th century, records show.

Hajna said control methods have apparently leveled the population off at around 80,000, after a fall to about 70,000 in 2011. At large numbers, the birds can lead to erosion, crop and even airplane damage, state records show.

They made a movie about the latter, though officials in New York may claim the bird responsible for “Sully” for its own.

In New Jersey, permit holders are allowed to kill Canada geese with guns.

In northern zones, hunters can shoot up to three Canada geese a day for two weeks in November and most of December and January, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection records show. A September season allows hunters to take up to 15 a day in hunting areas statewide.