Squirrel Nest In Tree Swing Tree - Just Started and Removed - April 2024

This week, when I came home from work one evening, I noticed a particular active squirrel trying to gnaw-off a bunch of small branches near the bottom of the big crotche(s) on our large Northern Red Oak tree in the back that has our tree swing on it.  I observed him/her for a minute, then quickly saw them scurry back to what appeared to be an emerging/being-established nest.  It was located a couple feet-up from the crotch.  I thought about what to do.  And, decided it was best to remove the nest.  My thinking was that it IS NOT baby season.  This nest is NOT occupied - yet.  It is just being built.  My preference is for him to build it much higher in this tree or...in a different tree further back from the patio/tree swing. 

So...I hauled out my ladder (a platform ladder) and used an extension pole that is supposed to be used to hang Christmas lights in high places and knocked the little nest down.  My emotions are still mixed and I'm sure that if this gets views in some folks eyes, they'll disagree with my decision.  

After all, we applied and were granted the Certified Wildlife Habitat status for our backyard and that includes the notion of 'raising young'.   

Last year was a Mast Year for our Oak trees; where they produced huge amounts of acorns.  I suspect this year will be a big year for squirrels as they had a massive cache of food and a mild Winter that likely allowed them to thrive.  

I made sure that the squirrel that was busy building this new nest was NOT part of the lineage of the Black Squirrel that we had in our yard back in 2017 and 2018.  I haven't seen a Black Squirrel in a number of years