They're everywhere at the end of the cul-de-sac here and elsewhere. I suppose it's because of the incredibly heavy rain. It's a rare opportunity to see this quite alien lifeform, significantly more different from us than fungi are, genetically speaking (see below).
As you can see the poor thing was trodden on a few times and has dried out significantly since it's gotten quite a lot drier all of a sudden. I think it's Fuligo septica, otherwise charmingly known as Dog's Vomit. Slime molds are resistant to high levels of toxic metal. Some of them can navigate their way around a maze.