I know this was from a long time ago.... It IS caterpillar scat that has rehydrated from the water in the bowl. cater pillars "launch" it either 4 or 40 times their body length. I can't remember which. This is thought to be done to keep predators like wasps from finding their nest and larvae. I had one bounce off my head and land on the patio table. I thought it was a squirrel pellet till I noticed the lobed, extruded look to it and searched till I found what it was. Probably will not harm the animals.... It's plant matter.

This is NOT a ferret; it is indeed a mink, but not a wild mink. This is a ranched mink with a color mutation bred on fur farms, so this animal was either an escapee from a fur farm, or was intentionally released by Animal Rights activists. Ranched mink lack survival skills to exist in the wild, and have been dependent upon human care for their entire lives, so this mink is seeking out the only source of food it knows-humans. It will not survive on its own, and while misguided and ignorant activists believe that they are "helping" fur farm animals by "liberating" them(as they ultimately want to "liberate" ALL animals, your dogs and cats included), they are in fact condemning most of these animals to a slow, painful death by starvation. NOTE: just because this mink is the product of many, many generations of captive selective breeding, this does NOT mean it is docile and tame! Ranched mink are still very prone to biting viciously. They can and will inflict serious injuries to dogs or other pets that mess with them or anyone who tries to handle them. Check around and find any fur farms in your area and find out if any have experienced recent break-ins and vandalism, including releases of animals, and you will most likely find where this mink, which I believe is a "Pastel" variety, came from.

Sounds like you are describing an Oppussum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum

Looks like a scruffy tom cat, doing cat stuff.