Is that possibly half a walnut at the bottom of the photo? If so, it might of made a bit of a raspy exit for the perp! Likely be an ouchie for a coon-tail. Could elevate the probability of a bear.
It is to me. Directo-recto-stratification and dispersion is the cornerstone of my native habitat plan. Between chokecherry and dogwood, I'm counting on the painful dumps of the forest critters to move my seeds around and get them desirables spread around. I have just a few dogwoods caged in various parts of my property to ensure there's seed for the birds to move around. I didn't end up with much for viable fruit on my dogwoods this year. It was looking really good but they ended up aborting most of their berries because of the drought.
Central Wisconsin. Lots of coons around but just don't come on my land. Our barn cats kill any rabbits or squirrels that venture onto our place. Maybe they have something to do with it.