Squirrels have many benefits to humans.  They are often hunted for food and their fur.  The fur from the tails of the gray squirrels is used in artist’s brushes.

Their treetop acrobatics can be great entertainment.

Unfortunately, they do some detriments to humans and the ecosystem.  They can host parasites that carry diseases such as the plague and rocky tick fever.

Squirrels are chewers and this has caused a host of problems including damage to birdfeeders, maple syrup pipelines, and even structures.  The most destructive damage comes when they chew on electrical power lines.  It has been well documented that their chewing habit has caused fires.

Their arboreal habitat puts them in close proximity to overhead phone and power lines. Shorting out of electrical transformers has been blamed on the high wire travels of Squirrels.