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"Graboids" in My Backyard

I was out in my backyard finishing digging out a trench around an orange tree when I noticed something very strange coming out of the soil that I had dug out a few days earlier. At first I thought it was just an unusual plant, but then I noticed it was attracting a lot of flies, and as I leaned in for a closer look I realized it smelled like a rotting corpse.

Then, to my amazement, it started to move around a bit and suddenly four tentacles rolled out from the top of it and began moving about in a way similar to a sea-anemone while it writhed back and forth and changed color. As I watched it, I began to move around to look at it from different angles and as I did the creature seemed to follow my movements.

After observing this for a few minutes the thing laid down flat on the soil and apparently died, I inspected it further and discovered it was arising from and egg like object and after a little searching I found other identical egg like objects nearby. Out of curiosity I opened one of the eggs expecting it to be a spore ball or some kind of mushroom, but I found it contained a clear viscous fluid and something that looked like a fleshy reddish embryo.

After that I decided that this thing had to be a complex creature and not just an unusual plant, so I collected the remaining eggs and took photos of the creature and eggs to document them, and to share them with Coast to Coast followers. I plan to contact the biology department at Stanislaus University to arrange some kind of identification, but I would appreciate any viewers input on what this creature might be.

--Jordan

Update: A number of people have written in to identify these as 'stinkhorn' mushrooms.