This is an old and very important question – why do we generally like oen and not the other? I admit I enjoy squirrel antics. I respect rats but generally do not want them close to me. Both go through my urban garbage, so I disagree with this article that there is any difference there. Squirrels can shred a bag of garbage and strew it all over a street, and they do it with impunity in daylight. They also climb my fruit trees and steal all my fruit with impunity, again in broad daylight right in front of me. And they waste it – they like to take one bite of each of my pairs and then spew the rest of the debris on the ground. I think my biggest issue with rats and mice is finding them inside. Intuitively, it seems much more likely that I or my family members could come into contact with some disease or parasite they are carrying, even if squirrels also carry many of the same things. And they pee and poop a lot – which again, outside is just part of the circle of life but inside is smelly and gross. Mice also have an inconsiderate habit of dying in odd places in the house that you can’t even get too, and one dead mouse you can’t find can really stink up a house, while squirrels usually have the decency to die and go into rigor mortis outdoors where you can easily scoop them up with a snow shovel on trash day (the local animal control people will not come out for anything smaller than a coyote, which yes are occasionally spotted in downtown Philadelphia).