Slime mold Physarum polycephalum found in the yard. It appeared soon after the sun went down. This is a fascinating creature, exhibiting extraordinary intelligence for a single celled creature. It is capable of navigating mazes to locate food sources, taking the shortest path first. It can recognize patterns of events over long periods of time. It's been a hot item for your bio-computing scientists. http://www.es.hokudai.ac.jp/labo/cell/accomplishment_e.html