Know Shit Sherlock?

Know Shit, Sherlock? Current mood: content
Today I was called to the terrace by Andrew, who was frantically hovering over his pepper plants.
"Something has taken a bite out of this plant!" he said. "Wellll....I hope that whatever bit into this pepper is suffering something fierce, right now!"
It was true, a small oval-shaped bite had been taken from one of his peppers towards the base, where the fruit meets the stem. It was too small for a deer (the thought of a deer climbing the stairs and then standing on our raised terrace made me giggle...), but clearly too big for a mouse or other such rodent. Raccoon maybe? Possum? Do they even eat peppers? Just as I was turning on my heels to go back inside, Andrew's eyes popped out of his head like a stepped-on bull frog.
"POO!" He shouted!
I stopped turning and came forward to investigate.
"I think those are just seeds, Andrew, now lets---"
"No, Emmy, it's poop. Poke it with a stick!"
Sure enough, there were several grain-of-rice sized "turds" nestled among his prized peppers. Upon further inspection (and poking with a stick---yes, I actually did that) I noted that they seemed to be a "barrel" type pattern on them.
It was like no dung I've seen before, and folks, I worked with animals for over 10 years before this sweet cherry gig.
So it was off to the internet (or "inter-web" as Amy likes to say.) I googled "mammal droppings" and was met with several field guides for animal identification, but none of the "droppings" matched. I tried google images, but was met with more of the same. I googled "poop" and was presented with several porno sites reminding me once again, for every body function, there is a fetish. Gross. And then, a light bulb went off. Of course! Maybe it wasn't mammal poo at all! Maybe is was INSECT poo! So I googled that and was pleasantly surprised by what I found! I called Andrew into the office to show him my findings...
"Larvae of the Manduca quinquemaculata grow quickly to a relatively large size of 3 to 5" long, and can devour young dill, eggplant, pepper, potato, tobacco, datura, petunia, and tomato plants in one to two days (the speed at which major damage can occur often takes gardeners by surprise). Tomato Hornworms can also damage young fruit on eggplant, pepper, and tomato plants causing decay or hard spots which can make the fruit unharvestable."
If you'd like to see a picture of the fella AND the frass (my fancy new word of the day which means "insect poop") go to...
http://www.floridagardener.com/critters/Insect_Pests/TomatoHornWorm.htm
Case closed.