Wild Goose Woods – Guelph University

For 1.5 km, trails and boardwalks go through these wet woods. The part of Wild Goose Woods near the Information Kiosk is an interesting section of this forest. In the late summer, fall and early winter, this area can be fairly dry, but in the late winter and spring, it is completely underwater.

April and May is a great time to check out some micro-inhabitants of Wild Goose Woods by searching the flooded area from the boardwalk. If you search carefully through the leaf litter under the water, you may find tiny crustaceans called fairy shrimp as well as red water mites, flatworms and snails. The well-camouflaged caddisfly larva are here, too, carrying the tube of sticks that they have glued together for a moveable shelter.

This part of Wild Goose Woods was once a White elm forest and some of the stumps are still present from the large trees that were wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease in the late1960's. When the large elms died, the small Freeman's maples (a hybrid of red and silver maples) that covered the forest floor got their chance and grew to the present forest around the boardwalk.

Information provided by Guelph University website.

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