Flying squirrels prefer to eat acorns and other nuts, seeds, fruits, berries, buds, flower blossoms and tree bark. Occasionally, insects, bird eggs and nestlings, mice and carrion are eaten. Economic Importance Tree squirrels are an attractive quarry to hunters everywhere. In Nebraska, about 11,000 squirrel hunters have harvested 50,000 tree squirrels each year during the last decade. In addition to hunting, squirrels are valued for their fur and meat.
Some people enjoy squirrel watching in public parks and in their own yards.
Controlling Damage A survey of the National Pest Control Association voted the tree squirrel as the number one nuisance animal in the United States. They eat acorns, nuts, fruit or vegetables in home gardens and become a nuisance at bird feeders. Squirrels can cause extensive damage to attic insulation or walls and gnaw on electrical wires in homes and vehicles, creating a fire hazard. Fox and gray squirrels normally crush the shells of nuts to enter them. Flying squirrels usually cut a smooth circular or oval opening in the shell wall.