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!