What are these things that appeared in my backyard and front lawn?
It is a termite bait station, used to give subterranean termites an easy way to get what they think is food, carry it back to their nest and distribute it to all, killing the entire colony.



Most likely your property has a lot of dead wood on it and is harboring termite colonies that are then migrating and attacking your neighbors, so they put the stations out in your property because you were not there. I've had to do that myself when a neighbor basically negleted her house and the entire thing became one giant termite colony.