Red Bud Trees

[Snicker Bar]

Is the southern variety here in MS safe for them? The bark? We have a fallen tree and I was going to get new climbing branches for their room..

[Diggie's Friend]

I info on edible tree leaves, buds, stems; the terminal branchlettes of Red Bud trees were noted to be liked by tree squirrels.
Just as long as the source hasn't been sprayed or fertilized they should be ok.

[Snicker Bar]

Ok sounds good; I hate to waste the tree limbs . Some still have green leaves.
Thanks DF !

[Diggie's Friend]

Here is the link to my thread on natural calcium sources common to the diet of tree squirrels of the northern hemisphere.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?58364-The-sources-tree-squirrels-mainly-rely-upon-in-the-wild-for-calcium

A word of warning on lichens, mushrooms, corms, for there are more than a few lookalikes in this group that are highly toxic. The portion consumed is also a key factor in mortality of squirrels that have taken more than a small nibble as is their habit to do to test if a potential food source is a good one.

Most sadly, tree squirrels in the wild that have taken to great a liking to some of the highly toxic forms have succumb to their poisons. During the wet season, the yard squirrels would do their, 'test nibbles' of the caps of toxic, 'Toad stools', which were a real challenge to pick all of them out of the lawn as they literally would pop up overnight. No matter what the wild source is, it is always the safest choice to first confirm by at least two more references that a potentially good food isn't toxic, even when consumed by squirrels in higher amounts.