# What eats hedge apples?



## zealot (Feb 6, 2006)

I know that they are inedible to humans, and that they can be used as cockroach control, but in the animal world, does anyone eat hedge apples? I have seen the trees over a cattle field, and the cattle didn't seem to want anything to do with them. They don't seem edible, especially with their thick glue, but I don't know for sure if some critter doesn't eat them.


----------



## holleegee (Mar 3, 2005)

squirrels love them! If you want some I have tons to give away if you want to pay postage!


----------



## tillandsia (Feb 2, 2006)

According to the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage-orange article on Osage orange (Maclura pomifera):


> The fruits are sometimes torn apart by squirrels to get at the seeds, but few other native animals make use of it as a food source. This is unusual, as most large fleshy fruits serve the function of seed dispersal, accomplished by their consumption by large animals. One recent hypothesis is that the Osage-orange fruit was eaten by a giant sloth that became extinct shortly after the first human settlement of North America. An equine species that went extinct at the same time also has been suggested as the plant's original dispersal mechanism because modern horses and other livestock will sometimes eat the fruit.


These people sell them!
http://www.osagehedgeballs.com/Default.htm


----------



## holleegee (Mar 3, 2005)

My husband said deer will eat them when there is nothing else to eat in the winter.


----------



## peacebaker (Dec 30, 2005)

We have an over-priced "fruit stand" near my house that sells produce, cheese etc. They had a display of fall items, indian corn, etc. and had hedge apples for THREE DOLLARS each! (and a sign that said inedible, ha ha). 

I thought it was pretty funny since you can pick them up off the ground all over town. I'm sure somebody bought them though!


----------



## trob1 (Jun 18, 2006)

I have heard that you can place them under and in your home and pest like fleas don't like them and will leave. Anyone else heard that?


----------



## moodcouple (Apr 26, 2005)

We had a German Shepherd who chewed them (they looked like the yellow tennis balls he was used to playing with) and it killed him. Made his throat swell shut.


----------



## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

Yep, people swear they keep spiders and insects OUT of your house.

I used to work in a greenhouse, and the owners knew where there was a tree and picked all they could. They brought them to the greenhouse and sold them as hedge apples that were to keep spiders and insects out of a house. They sold them for about $1.00 each, and sold out of them EVERY time!

holleegee is going to send me some! I just like the looks of them and YES, we do keep them around the house to repel spiders and such!


----------



## littlebitfarm (Mar 21, 2005)

My horses love them. They even pick them off the tree!

Kathie


----------



## kenuchelover (Sep 29, 2005)

zealot said:


> I know that they are inedible to humans, and that they can be used as cockroach control, but in the animal world, does anyone eat hedge apples? I have seen the trees over a cattle field, and the cattle didn't seem to want anything to do with them. They don't seem edible, especially with their thick glue, but I don't know for sure if some critter doesn't eat them.


Some cows DO eat them, some don't. It seems to be a roughly 50/50 thing. And yes, squirrels love them..... I think turkeys do as well. Some insects just love them to death, as well.

They contain latex (natural rubber, just like Rubber Trees & Guayale plants do) in fairly high levels. Commercial extraction of it has occasionally been looked into.


----------



## holleegee (Mar 3, 2005)

go to www.hedgeapple.com they have a lot of information on them.


----------



## shadowwalker (Mar 5, 2004)

I cut them in half and put them all under the house. We hardly evere see a spider or bug. Now if I could get something put there to git the mice out.


----------



## tweety (Oct 14, 2005)

When I had a Camp Fire Girls troop we would cut hedge apples into slices and let them dry a bit, they look like big daisies, then we would stick them on wires and make bouquets. They don't last forever but they are big and pretty and have a nice fragrance.


----------



## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

holleegee said:


> squirrels love them! If you want some I have tons to give away if you want to pay postage!


How do you get the squirrels to stay in the envelope? :shrug:


----------



## MarleneS (Aug 21, 2003)

Osage Orange wood is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. I've heard that you can still find old fence post that were made from Osage Orange wood that are still in great shape. It's a very hard wood, so I'm thinking if you plan some of those "hedge apples" now...your great-grandchildren might have enough to make fence post later?

Hugs
marlene


----------



## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Osage orange is also one of the best bow woods -- but you all knew that already, didn't you?

Kathleen


----------



## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

with a large sling shot, you can use them as artillery ammo to attack the neighbors.

they will think they are being attacked by aliens.


----------



## RandB (Aug 13, 2002)

I had a horse who considered them a great delicacy. There was an old hedgerow near his pasture, he would hang out there in the fall, waiting for them to fall so he could gobble them up!


----------



## kenuchelover (Sep 29, 2005)

MarleneS said:


> Osage Orange wood is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. I've heard that you can still find old fence post that were made from Osage Orange wood that are still in great shape. It's a very hard wood, so I'm thinking if you plan some of those "hedge apples" now...your great-grandchildren might have enough to make fence post later?
> 
> Hugs
> marlene


Plant them now, and YOU will have enough to make fence posts. It's a fast growing wood. (The "hedge" part of the name refers to just that, it's use in managed hedges..... where you'd go in and cut the regrowth every 5 or so years for use as fenceposts).


----------



## kenuchelover (Sep 29, 2005)

comfortablynumb said:


> with a large sling shot, you can use them as artillery ammo to attack the neighbors.
> 
> they will think they are being attacked by aliens.


That gives me a great idea.... make a cannon to fire them out of. The only problem might be if the latex starts fouling the barrel..... or will the burning powder scour it clean?

This way, if revenuers or ravaging hordes from the city ever show up, you'll be prepared! Works on tax collectors, salesmen, and scientologists as well!


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Squrrels love them.I've seen Deer dig them out of the Snow,tromp them and eat them.

big rockpile


----------



## d37fan (Dec 22, 2004)

The town I grew up in has started a chuckin' contest, http://www.hedgeballchuckin.com/
It seems like a fun way to dispose of them.


----------



## TnMtngirl (Jun 30, 2002)

Well now you all have me wanting to grow Hedge apples.I have never seen them.Will they grow from the seed?The wildlife around here might enjoy something different for a change.


----------



## BaronsMom (May 22, 2005)

I worked at a large/small vet clinic in college and we saw a number of cows in the clinic who swallowed whole hedge apples. The fruit lodged in the throat of the cow. The result? Fresh steaks for the farmer. Nothing could be done for the cows - in all cases they were butchered.


----------



## 2horses (Jul 19, 2004)

My horses and the deer around here love them! I had to bring one of the fruit into work and look it up on the 'net to find out what it is was, though - I was afraid it might be unhealthy for the horses. 

I also read that the trees can be pruned while they're young to make a nearly inpenetrable hedge or fence. May have to try that!

Pam  <------------- likes the idea of using them as weapons, too....


----------



## gunslinger598 (Aug 23, 2006)

My horses love them, if one hits the ground it don't last long. Also when the biting bugs are bad the horses will run to get under a "Bois D`Arc" tree as it seems to repel they bugs. I have a neighbor who is chairman of the "southwest Spanish Mustang Assoc." He has told me these work as a natural wormer in horses as well. A well seasoned fence post will last 50 years in the ground and be so hard that you cant drill it. I've attempted to burn some seasoned wood but it don't burn. I have heard it is one of the woods that you can cut and burn green though. Over all this is a unique tree.

P.S. Only the female trees produce the "horse Apples"


----------



## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

> That gives me a great idea.... make a cannon to fire them out of. The only problem might be if the latex starts fouling the barrel..... or will the burning powder scour it clean?


use compressed air as a propellent, and dip the green cannonballs in used motor oil.

spud gun, mark II


----------



## zealot (Feb 6, 2006)

Bow wood...sure, that's why it's called bois d'arc.


----------



## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

In the early days of the 13 colonies, hedge apple was planted to eventually keep in livestock, which in most places roamed free until fences were built or grew. In some places in NJersey when I was a kid you could still find remnants of mile long hedges along old roads and old property lines. They call them mock oranges there.


----------



## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

I had to look them up too, the first time I saw one. They aren't common up here, but do occur in pockets of "Carolinian" forest. Never noticed anything eating them (but haven't spent a whole lot of time sitting on the side of the road waiting to see, either!)


----------



## MMyers1 (Aug 26, 2002)

http://hedgeapple.com/

*Planting Hedge Trees - Old Timers told our friend Clark Knapp that they started Hedge Rows by dumping the Hedgeapples in a barrel, letting them sit over the winter allowing them to freeze and thaw until spring when they were soft. They then mashed them, added water and poured the slurry into a plowed furrow and cover about a inch or two. They kept the hedgeapples moist during the winter by drilling holes and letting about 2 inches of water stand in the bottom (if all the fruit is left submerged for extended length of time, they will not sprout).*

I have my barrel working in the back yard right now!! The tree is native to the Red River region between Texas and Oklahoma, but has been planted, mostly as hedge rows, in most of the contiguous 48 states. Only the female bears fruit. In confined areas they will grow upright as a tree. In open spaces they will bush out.... making them ideal for training into a hedgerow. It is a very hard wood, that when dried has an extremely high BTU.....


----------



## Mountaineer (Jan 1, 2006)

If anyone in Canada has seeds available I'd really be interested in a seed exchange! Seeds can't be sent across the border anymore.


----------



## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

Be careful of burning the wood. It pops real big. The wood when dry will dul a chain saw just like a rock. If you want to make fence post use the wood before it drys out or you will not get a staple in it.


----------



## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

> If anyone in Canada has seeds available I'd really be interested in a seed exchange! Seeds can't be sent across the border anymore.


I don't know when I'll be over that way next, but I'll try and remember to make a detour, and see if I can find some for you!


----------



## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

We have hundreds of Bois D'arcs on our land. One area we have a sign up: The Bois Park". 

Something eats the hedge balls/horse apples. Sometimes we'll see a couple sitting on one of our benches 1/2 eaten & sometimes they'll be spread around an open area. We toss 'em into our neighbors pasture for their horses.

We have so many Bois D'arc trees that I've started naming them. (Yes, I'm pretty whacky) I should start a thread about that!!

Patty


----------



## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

The new black horse, Prince Charlie, thinks Hedge apples are delicious! DD and I were out riding last fall along a county road. One of the neighbors has a line of trees that drop fruit right in the road. 

Prince proceeded to eat a hedge apple through his bit, grossing us out to the max! The horse I was riding thought he would try a bite, since Prince made it look so good. He tried one bite, then rolled his eye at Prince as if to say, "what is WRONG with you?" We about fell out of the saddle laughing. 

I don't know why it looks so gross, but it does....maybe the latex texture of the fruit?


----------



## Peacock (Apr 12, 2006)

YES, it burns fine as firewood...but...if you do choose to burn it indoors, you might want to stand way back and make sure the screen or stove door stays shut till it's all burned because it throws out sparks like crazy! In fact, right now I've got on my nice red t-shirt that has a burn hole in it thanks to that crazy yellow firewood.


----------



## Mountaineer (Jan 1, 2006)

Pookshollow- if you do, PM me, I have a pretty large seed collection and probably have something you could use.
Not knowing how big seeds are.... 50-60 trees-worth would be awesome, so long as they aren't bean-sized and cost a fortune to mail! Thanks!


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

I don't know that the apples are good for much, but the trees make fence posts that will last a lifetime.


----------



## logcabin1999 (Jan 1, 2009)

Much has been written about hedgeapples keeping spiders and other insects out of your house, but little has been written about the most important use, and that is to rid your body of cancer. I personally know several people who no longer have cancer, thanks to the wonderful hedgeapple. I take a teaspoon daily as a preventive measure. If you would like to check out the healing ingredient, it's called tetrahydroxystilbene. Hedgeapples are not poisonous as some people will try to make you believe. I have used it for several months, if it was poison, I would already be dead. But instead, my cholesteral has dropped 50 points, and other healing properties have been observed.
Other healing stories can be viewed on my website.
www.mullinslogcabin.net


----------



## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I''m not sure anyone knows how long an osage orange fence post will last. A university somewhere has been running a test for over 50 years. Even the creosoted posts are showing rot. The osage orange is still unaffected.


----------



## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

Hedge aka ozark orange makes great posts to prevent them from splitting after cutting cure them in a pond for a year it causes the latex to set.
this should be done if one is making a Bow as well . I have a hand made OO bow that scares people half to death when they draw it as it creaks and cracks .
when planted close together and trimmed a hedge row can be a better fence than barb wire, the thorns are short and vicious on new growth the wood its self once seasoned is hard as a rock. we have some posts in the fence line that have been there for over 100 years .
as for eating the apples 
deer squirrels and rodents seem to like them .
I tend to question the wives tales about repelling spiders as Ive seen many a web built on the apples and dont even believe the myth of repelling bugs as the first warm days you'll see the apples covered with various insects ants love them .


----------



## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

I had a few cut up hedge-apples in my house to repel spiders, and when they turned black I went to pick one up to throw away. My hand went right through a spider web, only inches away...


----------



## BaronsMom (May 22, 2005)

Word of caution. I worked for a large animal vet and one summer, on two different occasions - two different owners, saw two nice black angus cows come in with blockages in their throats from swallowing hedge apples.

Sadly, both cows had to be killed, they were dispatched right in the squeeze shoot at the vet clinic - no way to help them. Both farmers were able to take their cows into a local butcher.


----------



## MaKettle (Oct 2, 2003)

We have a row of them along a portion of the fence line. Explains why the neighbor's cows congregate there in the afternoon--shade and insect repellent. There is no collection of fruit on his side of the fence, but tons on my side. Used to lob them ovr the fence for his cows until I heard one of them choked to death on one.


----------

