When cleaning up the gardens we found this pile of scat. What kind of critter has been in the garden? This is at a volunteer project and the area surrounding is largely natural. There are not residential areas close by. There is field, woods and water nearby. We have an abundance of woodchucks and deer in the area. It appears that there have been several "visits" to this spot as some of the droppings appeared fresher than others, and are obviously different colors. When we poked it with a stick, the white scat fell apart and appeared to be layers of small shells. The photo with the gloved hand is just for size reference as this appears to be a rather large pile of large droppings. 

What has been visiting our garden? 

I have a hedge in my front lawn composed of 3 shrubs. Over the past 2 years, I have found several dead branches that I’ve cut off. Starting last year, some of the branches get new leaves in the spring that then turn brown and die a few weeks later. I have attached some photos, with the last photo showing a closeup of the base of the worst shrub, where I’ve had to trim significant fed growth.

My question - are these shrubs dying and should I just go ahead and remove them? I’m thinking of replacing them with one of the Gardens in a Box from Resource Central (CO native plants) are there any precautions I should take of the shrubs are diseased? Thank you!