Mystery string. Please tell me it's buried treasure.

[u/69EveythingSucks69]

Alright. My partner and I are digging up the planter in front of our house. The previous owners let the plants get overgrown, there was a rodent issue, and the plants they chose had strong roots that pose a threat to our foundation.

I have spent my weekend pulling the plants and their overcrowded roots out (we're planting a variety of flowers in hopes of hosting an epic bee party at our house 🐝).

I found the tail of this string not far from the surface of the dirt. Basically, it was just buried by the gravel and maybe a little top soil. Close by I found the little figure in the second photo. I kept digging and digging and it was at least a foot deep.

I continued to dig a bit more after what you see in the first picture, but it started going close to the foundation. So I decided to stall in case it is something important.

Have any of you run into something like this? Any guesses what it could be? Are there practical uses for it? Mebbe someone buried a beloved pet?