I was out in the garden one morning scouting for hornworms on the tomato plants when I smelled something awful. The smell reminded me of a dirty diaper. I followed my nose and discovered a piece of poop in the raised bed. It looked similar to cat feces but I hadn’t seen any signs of a cat in our yard during the day and we have been home every day.
I found a new fresh piece the next morning, and then the next. I looked up North America mammal scat identification; the poop appeared to be similar to that of a skunk. Skunks are nocturnal so it makes sense that we wouldn’t spot the intruder during the day. It is an omnivore but prefers to eat small mammals such as rodents, bugs, crustaceans, birds, and grubs. This seems to be a perfect solution for the mice, rats, voles, squirrels and other garden pests we have had difficulty catching or deterring.
We left the poop to deter other pests such as the recent frequent and unwelcomed squirrel visitor.
The squirrel had visited daily and kept trying to dig up the soil in the raised bed. We had applied red chili pepper powder and the chili successfully deterred it from digging; nonetheless it kept coming back to roam other areas in the garden. 
However, since the skunk feces has been found, we haven’t seen further signs of the squirrel or any other rodents!
As for the skunk, it hasn’t left evidence of a return. Most of the garden in the backyard is full of prickly squash leaves. Perhaps it doesn’t like the chili powder in the garden beds. We also grow 6 citrus trees in the back, and skunks do not like the smell of citrus. Either way, it’s scat has unintentionally helped us keep out other pests that have given us headaches for year