Hard to say without a picture. As for the pinpoint accuracy, many animal species communicate via defecation and/or urination, leaving not only the fine aroma of crap, but their own marking scent. Thus by location and scent type and potency, that animal communicates to others not only an important spot, but the time last visited, the individual that visited, and probably other info we don't know about. An animal may also mark a location to create its own personal "landmark" for future reference. My guess is that some animal checked out your garden, and found it impressive enough to merit a big, smelly marker. If you could post a photo, someone could probably ID the species from which the turd was squeezed. Did you say "3 1/2""? That's bigger than most animal turds I've seen. Any neighbors jealous of your garden?

Teresa, if it's possible to be in a fun place during a tornado warning then a wine cellar is certainly a good candidate! Sounds like a wonderful weekend get-a-way. We get a few Baltimore orioles here also & do as Jim suggests with the oranges. I'm always amazed that the little guys find the oranges! It's been a crazy spring with the weather. We are certified NOAA spotters for the SKYWARN program & the US Weather Service activated us less than 30 minutes ago. So we'll be taking some wind readings, timed rainfall measurements, & checking around town for flooding this morning. Thankfully, no tornado threats. Had a couple rounds of state-wide severe weather though over the past couple weeks...ending that awful heat wave. /tricia

Your link wouldn't open for me, but here is another link where they believe it was a meteor. Here is a link that might be useful: Strange Lights in VA

Oh, I miss our raccoons! They've *vanished*. We live along a creek that runs a dozen feet below ground level -- shallow except in late winter/early spring when it threatens to overflow the banks. It's the perfect setting for raccoons since they like to rinse their food. We had raccoons in the cottonwood trees across the creek from us for two summers. We could see them from our screened porch during very hot days. They'd lie on their backs, high in the forks of the cottonwoods, exposing their bellies to cool off and swaying with the treetops in any passing breeze. We store our garbage and recycling in our garage and only take it out the morning of our pickup day. No raccoons for a while, but we have many other 'crittesr'. DH spotted a skunk along our back lot line last week as he was closing up the house before going to bed. Many nights a possum uses the sides of our house to guide her in her nearsighted quest for food, babies clinging to her underside. I haven't heard coyotes recently, but our overpopulation of rabbits has shrunk. We had a pair of big, golden-breasted hawks last week. Ma and Pa Cardinal visit our little fountain often, and our over-wintering robins are busy defending against migrating 'strangers'. It's very 'birdy' in our yard early and late.