Wow – aren’t we profound today. I can only answer for me, obviously.

To me there is a double standard, and that is perfectly fine. In fact it is much more than a double standard, it is more of a sliding scale. Meaning, on one end of the scale there are creatures on this planet who are very dear to me. I would die a miserable death to protect them, without hesitation, and so would you. On the other end of the scale there are creatures that you would go out of your way to kill and be happy that you did so, even when you could have released them. Black widow spider in your yard shoes maybe? This creature doesn’t make it very far up on the “respect” scale, if you will.
I respect the white tail deer, it is closer to the opposite end of this scale. It has a very rigid set of tuned skills it uses to detect and avoid predators. I am a predator, so I can appreciate their dedication to not being killed, since I have failed many times in my life at attempting to do just that – kill them. It is nature in its finest hour so to speak. They represent me being able to meet my goals, and set goals as far as hunting is concerned. The mature buck is one of the most elusive animals on the planet. I respect that, but I must challenge myself to find them, chase them down and kill them, but I do so respectfully.
But a squirrel (to me) is a tree rat, nothing more, nothing less. I don’t kill them for no reason, and since I don’t eat them, I don’t hunt them. But, on occasion, one of those little fellows likes to let the woods know that I’m there and chatter at me. This is the very reason that I carry at least one extra arrow (that I don’t care so much about) with me. I have planned on seeing him there, and I’m planning to kill him. I’m not going to eat him, I’m not going to tan his hide, and I probably won’t even retrieve my “extra” arrow if it hits a tree. He will be left to die. His mistake – chattering at me, the killer, who is hiding and sneaking, for the sole purpose of killing.