Why are squirrels important?

I think that we find them "cute" looking because we assign them human characteristics (anthropomorphism) as we do a lot of animals. Like human babies, they have big eyes in a small, kind of heart-shaped face with a tiny nose and mouth. We find this extremely attractive for some reason. (I am not a scientist, just an observer of human behavior). Their movements are also "cute" because they perform seemingly impossible gymnastic maneuvers to accomplish their tasks.