I’ve made a terrible mistake. I’ve done some dumb things but this one, well, I’m genuinely ashamed of how stupid I am. And I’ve dropped a tree on a power line before.

I’m confessing this to you. You are the first to hear this. Here it is.

I have a bird feeder, and I can sit and watch it for questionably long periods. I love it. This summer I stepped up my game and advanced from amateur ornithologist to become a full-fledged wildlife creeper.

I bought a trail cam. I don’t hunt but stalking wild creatures on my camera is a thrill. In just a few months, it’s picked up raccoons and porcupines and all kinds of deer including cute little fawns and nice bucks.

I got a bear on camera — and a fox. This is all about 100 metres from my back door. Maybe closer.

Then things slowed down ...

until a couple nights ago when the camera captured a seriously-scary looking coyote. The night vision pics were grainy, but it was clear enough. Yikes.

It showed up again the next day and, in the light, it was revealed as a healthy-looking well-fed predator. The camera caught it again that night. It was hanging around.

It was interested in something. It was so obvious my wife even asked, “Did you feed it?” “No way!” I said. “I know better than to feed wild animals.

” What I didn’t tell her was that the day before the coyote turned up, I went to make myself a jalapeno-cheddar bagel, but it was mouldy. I went to throw it in the garbage then thought, I’ll take it out back and.