This fecal matter is of prime importance to the rare and endangered dung beetle. The dung beetle's role in life is to roll around this fecal matter and bury it underground. The feces provides nutrients for the young dung-beetle grubs. By rolling around this fecal matter in little balls, seeds of various plants are picked up and moved from place to place, thus insuring their survival. Many of these seeds are of the milkweed plant.
Milkweed is the primary food for the larva or caterpillar stage of the monarch butterfly.
I came across an Internet site a while back that described how Sydney, Australia, once imported 25,000 large dung beetles in an experiment to use them to recycle dog poop. It is right in the front of our house and seems very exposed. We'd like to build a birdhouse for doves in the backyard. Their nest location may seem exposed to you, but they picked it because they liked it. Doves like to nest on flat areas and some readers have had success by building 10-in.