The strangeness of squirrels

Sometimes they seem almost completely unafraid. They'll eat close to me or come towards me with seeming confidence.

One squirrel wanted to run along the fence but my coffee cup was in the way. I removed the cup, stepped back along the fence, and the critter ran right next to me.

I don't think their vision is great, despite the size of their eyes. they spot movement readily enough and have gone before you can say "Nutkin" but if I stand still they scamper up until they smell me. The scent of the enemy. Then they scarper.

They can freeze, but it's not that great a freeze as often they tremble, poor things.

There's a book I want to read, Cull of the Wild by Hugh Warwick. On the cover it has a grey squirrel (culled in the name of conservation) and a red squirrel (adored for being native). Warwick is an almost vegan who hates the idea of killing and a conservationist who understands the threat to some species by newcomers.

Whenever I see squirrels, I think of how many people hate them: for damage to trees; for out-competing red squirrels; for damage to property; for eating birds' eggs and baby birds. They are one of the scapegoat species. We can hate them instead of hating ourselves. Plan to kill them instead of thinking hard: would there be appropriate habitat anyway for reds? would greys be as "damaging" to trees if a) we hadn't exterminated large raptors and pine martens and b) trees were healthier (not growing on formerly agricultural soil, in a changing climate, without the megafauna ecosystem engineers)? Would birds be in such reduced numbers without the insect decline (so many human caused reasons for that); habitat loss; and the absence of the larger predators that scare off/reduce the numbers of the smaller predators? Aren't cats a bigger problem anyway, and no one is talking of culling them - except the guy in Freedom?

It's clear where the real blame lies. And it's not with squirrels.