What’s leaving scat near our house?

Hi! We have a problem with a nighttime visitor who is leaving scat within a few inches of our house. The larger pile is in the front of our home, in a cubby where the garage meets the house (90 degree angle), and is recurring. The other place is in the window well of our basement glass block window, where one pile was left several days ago. The scat ranges from about 1/2" in diameter to 1" (at least). It looks like a child or adult could have left it! I've attached photos.
. The larger "garage" pile was built up a bit, so the measuring tape is not accurately reflecting size (I had to hold it about 3" off the pile, closer to me). Please help with any ideas on how to deter this visitor from claiming our home as his own. I have not seen raccoons in the area (but my next door neighbor has). We do have coyote sightings. Could it be one of these? I'm at 100 Waverly Lane in South Russell. Thank you!

The culprit leaving the mystery scat behind is most definitely a raccoon. They frequently leave their scat behind in the same place, thus the piles you are seeing. If this were coyote, it would most likely have fur in it and it would be pointy on one end. If you want to deter this visitor from claiming your home as his own, I would remove all available food sources such as bird seed, pet food bowls, outdoor garbage cans, etc. If you remove any potential food source, the raccoon will likely not stick around.

Best of luck!

-Chief Naturalist John Kolar