i have no idea what they are but i have them pop up in my garden every morning. they have a brown mud like substance on the tip and they usually shrivel up by the middle of the day. someone mentioned to me they might be a fungus like a mushroom. they likely grow if you have really damp ground or soil in your yard.

your yard has herpes, burn it, then re-seed

We have this in our yard as well and I looked everywhere to find out what it is. I think it is a Stinkhorn, and of the Mutinus generus. This is what Wikipedia says about this type of fungus and then the specific type that I think we have: The Phallaceae are a family of fungi, commonly known as stinkhorn mushrooms. Belonging to the fungal order Phallales, the Phallaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical regions. They are known for their foul smelling sticky spore masses, or gleba, borne on the end of stalks called the receptaculum. The characteristic fruiting body structure—a single, unbranched receptaculum with an externally attached gleba on the upper part—distinguish the Phallaceae from other families in the Phalalles. The spore mass typically smells of carrion or dung, and attracts flies and other insects to help disperse the spores. Although there is a great diversity of body structure shape amongst the various genera, all species in the Phallaceae begin their development as oval or round structures known as eggs. Mutinus (Huds.) Fr. (1849) The mature fruiting body has a spongy, cylidrical hollow stalk which ends in a slender, tapered, sometimes curved head covered with the dark olivaceous, slimy gleba. In older specimens, the gleba may be washed or worn off to show the orange or red color of the head itself.