New to board, and Squirrel questions 😃

Hi! I just recently found this board while hunting around for advice on my squirrel situation in my yard, and it is so nice to find a place full of people like me who actually adore these little animals (instead of thinking of them only as 'pests')!

I live in Idaho, near Boise, and my husband and I finally were able to buy our first house! It came with a bunch of old (the oldest is over 100yrs) elm trees and a couple of resident squirrels (much to my delight!). I grew up in Colorado and my parents were avid squirrel feeders and I spent many happy hours watching them and naming them, and it's always been my dream to do the same when I got a place.

Which brings me to the start of my questions... The previous owner was very old and unable to properly care for the property and as such the trees need some help to survive. We have had 2 arborists out and the trees are being treated for elm leaf miners via injections (which I was assured are 'squirrel safe') but we have been given the advice that the two center elms of the group should be removed for the others to properly thrive. Not immediately, but in the next year or two ideally. I am ok with this, except we can very plainly see at least 1 squirrel nest in one of the trees. This past spring I was very delighted to find we were hosting a family of 4 babies and decided that we weren't going to cut the trees this past summer because of that. They do need to eventually be cut, though. When would the best time of year be to do that? I ideally want there to be enough time for my squirrel tenants to be able to build a new nest safely before any dangerous weather changes or new baby litters. Any advice is appreciated!

Second question is what is proper food to put out? We have been putting out the Kaytee Squirrel and Critter mix, but I don't know if that's the best thing for them. We do have to keep the food 'dog safe' as we have two dogs (who are being trained to not go after the squirrels... one is completely trained and the squirrels have no problem eating while he is out there walking around 2 ft away from them, and the other needs some reminders but is getting better). So nuts like almonds and walnuts are not ideal since they are not good for dogs. I do plan to build a raised feeding platform or two with connecting bridges and ropes to the trees, but for now the food is in a bowl on the ground.

Any and all advice is appreciated! I'm super new to squirrel situations, so please be kind :) I truly want to do what is best for my furry yard companions!

Hi! Glad to see you here! What kind of dogs do you have? I'm thinking if they can't get to a picnic table or such, just putting food on something like that, maybe near the trees and designated as the squirrel feeding station, would eliminate any worries about the dogs eating something they shouldn't. Are they generally pretty good or do they try to sample squirrel food?

I am guessing Kaytee Squirrel and Critter Food probably has mostly the same ingredients as a bird seed mix, but just costs more? There are several brands of rodent block out there. These are formulated to be the sole diet of lab rats and mice, so are pretty nutritionally complete. But they often aren't anywhere near as appealing as the junk food. If you check out the Squirrel Nutrition forum, there should be a link somewhere to Henry's Healthy Pets. They sell different squirrel blocks. If your budget is tight your best bet is probably Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet. It is usually available at your local feed store, so there's no paying to ship it. It is not very yummy though. My more timid wilds eat it, but my tamer spoiled ones seem to think I'm teasing them (and yes, I am!) when I try to give them one instead of their almonds. Today I actually ran out of almonds. I have three who jump or climb on me and stick their heads in my coat pocket to help themselves, and one of them came back at least four times before figuring out that it was indeed empty. Only then did he go to the other pocket and take a Mazuri block.

I can't speak to the tree issue. There are pros and cons to cutting one at any time of year. You get real winters there in Idaho, yes? Like single digit temps and snow and all that? So if you cut a tree the squirrels are nesting in, you take that, but if you wait until baby season, that can also be disturbing. Squirrels do have backup nests, so if you only take maybe one tree this year and the other next year, that might be less disruptive to them. Or not. Maybe taking both out at once and getting it over with so they can recover and resume normal activity would be best. See what I mean? You can second and third guess yourself to death. Also the nest(s) may not even be there in another couple of months. I have some nests that seem pretty permanent, but others get made and torn apart by high winds etc. or the squirrels just move out of them for whatever reason (likely parasite infestation).

If you can, you might want to consider getting two or three squirrel houses and hanging them where there will be the least disturbance when tree cutting time comes. If the squirrels are established in houses and aren't even using the trees that need cutting, they will have only the noise and intrusion of the day or days of cutting to contend with and get over.

Thank you for the reply! My dogs are medium sized (40-50lb) mixed breeds and can definitely get up on a picnic table with no problems, so that won't really work. The older one won't eat anything not given to him, but the younger one is still learning and will occasionally eat something off the ground out of curiosity (again, something we are actively working on, but it takes time to build the skill/habit). I am not exactly sture as to everything in the Kaytee mix, but I know it has peanuts and corn because they always eat the peanuts first and the corn last 😂! I will take a look at Henry's Healthy Pets, thank you for the referral. I would absolutely LOVE to get to the point where the resident squirrels would take food from me directly! I've got a long way to go on that, though.

As far as the nests go, there is really only one nest in the two trees that will be getting cut (that I can see) and it's a very large one that has been there for 2 winters at least. We definitely do get cold and snowy winters here, and I see the squirrel that lives in that nest definitely still resides in it which is my biggest concern. I think that putting up squirrel nesting boxes is an absolutely brilliant idea, thank you so much! I can put up a few on the trees that will be staying for sure (the two that are going will have to be taken out at the same time as they are kinda intermingled, so doing one at a time is not possible). Do you have any recommendations for specific squirrel houses? If I put them up this year and let the squirrels get used to them and maybe set up house, then I will hopefully be able to take the trees out next year safely. Thank you again for the wonderful idea, I really like it and will definitely be giving it a try!

Obligatory doggy photo attached (hopefully!)
Attachment 323904

It is always best to have feeding stations in the trees... squirrels feeding on the ground are sitting ducks for predators. Platform feeders in trees not only make it more difficult for dogs and foxes but most aerial predators as well.

While I appreciate that you are working with your dogs to not go after the squirrels, that also raises the risk of the squirrels becoming acclimated to dogs in general (and by association foxes and coyotes).

The best time to take the trees would be in July or early August... Babies are born generally in Jan/Feb and then again Sept +/- though we are seeing babies more and more and various times of the year. If anyone is more familiar with the "seasons" in Idaho, I hope they will chime in. In July and early August the babies should be getting around well enough to escape and relocate. I'd consider putting up houses a few weeks before the planned cut and you might get lucky and they move out ahead of time. I would think it would not hurt to put out a plastic owl / hawk or 2 in the trees to be cut... that may impact your squirrel visits for a while, but it may be worth it.

Are these trees close enough to other trees to permit squirrels to escape via the treetops, from one tree to another? They'll be reluctant to come to the ground so having an escape route via the tree canopy is crucial IMO. Also, factor in any such escape routes in planning which tree gets cut first...

Just some suggestions....

Cute puppies! There are many options for squirrel house designs. Members here have made their own. I'm sure there are plans here somewhere. Hopefully those people will see your thread and chime in. If you're handy maybe you can make your own. I don't know how expensive wood etc. is out your way, but if you or someone you know can do it it's probably way cheaper than trying to buy and ship something.

Whether simple or complex, the most important design feature is some sort of predator baffle. My houses are a simple design I saw on Pinterest(?). It's basically a 1 ft x 1 ft wide and 2? ft tall box with a hinged top so it can be opened to clean and a locking latch so a raccoon can't open it, with a 6? in wide "porch" at the level of the entry hole (2 1/2 in round so nothing bigger than a squirrel can fit) and on the inside at the same level as the porch is another board which protrudes across almost half of the inside of the box. This is the baffle. A reaching raccoon arm can't go down inside to grab a squirrel down in the box. There are other designs which are better, but mine suited my budget and strength (probably one of the lightest weight versions). And my squirrels like them.