seriously though, look for scat traces on the ground and on the leaves. Different animals leave different poop behind. Also, describe what your environment is like? woods, city, suburbs, backyard ect. Don't forget about the 2 legged thieves also.

Pam, I found unusual looking droppings on the balcony of one building that sounds more less like what you've seen. I was thinking some kind of mouse, rat, squirrel....until I looked up. There was a bat using a small nook to sleep in during the day and the balcony floor as a latrine. It's a long shot but you might look up insteand of down

I buy the concentrated bottle, that you mix with water in a pump sprayer. Goes much farther then the premixed stuff. For the casual grower with only a few plants, I'm sure the premixed sprayer bottle will work for a season. Truthfully, I normally don't use Neem to get rid of beetles, though it does help with the JB if reapplied VERY often. Mostly I use it for aphids, thrips and Powdery Mildew, and any crossover benefit is nice, but not the main focus. I use soapy water knockdown for the Japanese Beetles, and take off any spotted leaves caused by them so other J. beetles aren't attracted to the pheromone they leave behind. I've noticed the dull brown beetles you are referring to, but they don't cause too much damage in my garden. When I've knocked them down in a soapy bucket, they tend to climb right out instead of drown. ?:-(? Glad they don't seem to congregate in my garden too much. Incidentally, I've been watching the scat of a nocturnal creature lurking around my gardens, and it's been full of Japanese beetle shells. I suspect a skunk, as some of my leaf mulch on the dahlia beds are scratched into the grass here and there. I am working on getting all the components for an electric fence to protect my bee hives (right next to my dahlia beds), as skunks are notorious for scratching the bottom entrances so they can eat the guard bees one at a time. Grumpy bees do not make good dahlia companions.

With trapping any animal, you have to be really persistant unfortunately. I know raccoons are not the same as outdoor cats, but I have Trapped-Neutered-Released (TNR) dozens of cats in my neighborhood and if ya don’t get them all, you can expect more next spring. We have raccoons who come after the dry cat food on the porch that has a cat door. But one of the outdoor boys went after one of the raccoons a couple of weeks ago. I was worried my cat would get hurt, but he was fine and I haven’t seen the coon since……go figure! debra