Re: Trees & GV's -- SOUTHERN FLYING SQUIRREL ONLY

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Date Posted: 05:00:55 11/11/01 Sun
Author: Beverly
Subject: Re: Trees & GV's
In reply to: Mark 's message, "Re: Trees & GV's" on 22:02:12 11/10/01 Sat

That is such a cool idea! My nest boxes for my wee family are from various sources. Two are just shoe boxes, as when they had run of the house, they often used shoe boxes to hide their nuts, and also had used one that was in the linen closet, to build a nest of their own. It was empty, and they filled it by shredding bathroom tissue. They also used Q-tips for bedding, which I didn't like, as they were plastic stick type. When I discovered they'd gotten into that bag, I put the remainder in a tin. For my first GVv, Molly, I found a 5' willow branch that had fallen. It already had two nest cavities, no doubt from red-bellied woodpeckers, or possibly northern flickers. Molly had shredded a red casmere sweater of mine, so I cut it up into squares, and let her use the upper hole. She loved the tree trunk - I propped it up in a corner of the den - and she would choose between the holes - one was on the back side. I would imagine such a nest hole would be less useful with a breeding group, as it would be really difficult to check on progress. When Mini Mum produced her pups, her first litter was in a typical dried pine hinge-top nest box, seen in many pet stores. Her second was an old roll top sewing box I'd bought for just that purpose, and drilled an entry hole into its side. That also worked well!

>Bev, I personally use oak both post oak & black oak. I
>like the black oak as most are hollow and I do not hae
>to drill out the center to make my nest boxes. If cut
>into sections approx. 12" long and totally covered
>with say plywood on top & bottom (top overhangs to
>protect from rain) then the log will last for 1-2
>years. then all you have to do is drill a small enough
>hole for them to feel secure and you have an instant
>nest box. I have one log that is about 24" long and
>the size of a large barrel. this one I drilled 4 holes
>in and it is used by large numbers. they all share it.
>The walls are about 3"-4" thich so it stays nice &
>warm during the winter and nice & cool ion the hot
>summer months.
>Mark
>
>
>>Did some quick research. Socrates met death by
>>drinking a brew from the hemlock plant, not tree.
>>However, the problem with the hemlock tree is there
>>are two members of the family - genus Tsuga, which
>>seems a harmless enough tree, and genus Taxus (how
>>appropriate!) quite poisonous. On the bright side,
>>Tsuga produces mini pine cones, while Taxus produces
>>red berries, so as long as one is not mistaken for the
>>other (they are both evergreen, and considered
>>coniferous), SFS's should be safe. But with so many
>>hardwoods available - maple, hickory, etc., - it might
>>be wise to leave the soft wood (pines) alone!
>>Besides, the resin from pines is a bother. The sap
>>from maples is a treat!

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Replies:

Thanks guys for some great ideas! (NT) -- Irene, 15:48:54 11/14/01 Wed