The Mad Red Squirrel & Me

Wild creatures have kept their distance from our homestead on this dirt road. With the exception of one juvenile raccoon who got drunk on our grapes and one skunk who would have liked to eat the grapes.
For the most part we live in harmony with the wild things. They have kept their distance and we have kept ours. But last year things changed. A new element moved into the neighborhood, the Mad Red Squirrel. Now, mind you it's not like we have lived out here oblivious to squirrels, red or other wise. But mostly they have gone their way and we have gone ours. They have used the birdhouses for storage bins and we have let them because it seems to have kept them from trying to use our house as a storage bin. I have let them steal birdseed. Mostly because I love to tap on the window or door and watch them throw themselves off our arbor onto the snowbanks and run as fast as their little legs could carry them to the safety of the nearby woods. It has been a rewarding relationship for them and an amusing one for me.
But this squirrel is different. He has attitude, like I owe him. He got into my dried gourds out on the side deck and broke open every one of them. When I stood out there looking at this random act of violence (at least against the gourds) he (and I say he as a general term) stood on the peak of our shed yelling at me or at least what I would take for yelling. I clapped my hands to scare him and he ran behind the shed, stuck his head out and renewed his tirade. And our relationship has not improved.
I grew sunflowers last summer and Mad Red Squirrel liked that. When the smaller heads were almost mature he would attack them. Leaving behind petals and pieces of seed. The final straw with this little, furry, delinquent was the day his stood on my tomato fence, directly opposite my front door, looked straight at me and began to pull the petals out of a sunflower head he had taken down. It was as if he was challenging me. Saying, 'Here, look at me! Look at what I can do!' Once he had completed his task and the petals lay on the ground, he dropped the seed head and ran off.
No, we are not done with each other yet. He still comes to steal seed and boldly sits there on the ground in front of my door, challenging me to come out and try to get him. He thinks he is safe on the other side of the glass but he's not. Some day, at some time, I will catch him and victory will be mine!!! But until then, I will look both ways and make noise before I go out, you never know where the Mad Red Squirrel might be!