It's fall, and the eternal debate over squirrels rages anew:

Are they nature's court jester, providing hours of harmless laughs?

Are they nature's terrorists, hassling suburbanites and threatening America's infrastructure?

Are they dinner?

History will decide. Once again, Squirrel Awareness Month runs concurrently with the opening of squirrel hunting season in deep East Texas, a coincidence that brings to light the paradox of the squirrel experience in America.

While squirrel hunting is a year-round, lower profile sport in South Texas and other regions, it's got a gold rush feel in the eastern part of the state. Out there, it's wildly popular. Feverish hunters wait all year for their chance to light up the woods with gunfire.

More than 50,000 registered hunters stalk their tree-loving, acorn-hoarding prey each year, said Steve Lightfoot, a Texas Parks & Wildlife spokesman.

As you read this, there are East Texans planning post-hunt meals of fried squirrel or squirrel stew with dumplings, sometimes served at special squirrel hunting camps.

The scientific rationale for most state-sponsored hunting programs is habitat preservation, wildlife experts say, but squirrels don't threaten habitat because they can live anywhere and the population is stable. In the case of squirrels, hunting is tradition.

"It is a cultural thing in the Piney Woods," Lightfoot said.

This bothers Jody Karr, president of the Oklahoma City-based Squirrel Lovers Club.

"That's a really sad thing," she said. "It's sad to see someone targeting a little animal that brings so much humor and beauty to the world."

Squirrels are funny, harmless and, Karr said, often friendly around humans.

Many homeowners beg to differ.

Roel Lopez, a Texas A&M wildlife expert, said squirrels have adapted to mankind, finding nesting spaces in wall spaces and attics of homes and offices.

That's good for squirrels but bad for buildings.

Squirrels must chew to live, Karr said. Without constant gnawing, the teeth will grow too long and too curved, back into their own skulls, effectively killing them.

That means when squirrels find an opening into a home's attic or walls, Lopez said, they gnaw on the hole to make it bigger. Once inside, they chew insulation and wiring. Removal of squirrels and repairing the damage is expensive.

Lopez's six-year study of squirrels shows they thrive in urban settings. There are more of them and they live longer because there's more shelter, more food and fewer predators.

Squirrel family life, Lopez has learned, resembles human family life, with mom rearing kids, dad goofing off, and teenaged squirrels pushing boundaries.

Things go really bad, however, when squirrels push against the nation's power grid.

There have been thousands of outages caused when squirrels got onto power lines and fried themselves.

Power companies spend millions on barrier devices, but the animals adapt. The best answer, said John Fainter, president and CEO of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, is to build a smarter grid, where power outages can be isolated, electricity can be diverted as necessary, and repairs are finished post-haste.

Recidivism, he said, isn't a problem when a squirrel challenges the grid.

"When it happens, we don't have to worry about that squirrel any more."