"Piffle" Sighting

You are all sworn to secrecy - no, really I mean it.  If my reputation as a level-headed, sane woman is to be maintained, no mention of this and further postings on this subject must be revealed.  Promise?

When I was a child, living at the ocean, there was a joke that at night we could go 'snipe' hunting.  Mostly this was told to teenage girls for the obvious reason.  Here in the Lickety-Split forest, which surrounds us quite deeply, our elusive prey  is called a "Piffle". 

At least the Piffles are not some scary beast such as Yeti or Sasquatch.  However, over the years Piffle's have been blamed for every missing thing in the county.  The story goes that they are pilferers and will take anything not nailed down.  Strangely enough, a few days later the item is returned (or at least the rightful owner has found what was misplaced).

Anyway, my secret (which remember you must not reveal) is that I have actually had a Piffle sighting - or at least the remnants of one.  As I walked along the path behind our house I found this group of mismatched items in a circle.   Who or what could have left these behind?

And so began my investigation...

"Still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate." - J.R.R. Tolkien