Lime green grapefuit sized dropping from trees

[Buckfever]

We have this yellow-Lime colored grapefuit sized, seed/fruit dropping over here. The deer are smashing it and then eating it. Anyone know what this is and what tree produces it?

[freedomrules3]

My first guess is an osage orange tree . we used to call them monkey balls , not sure why Ohio is full of them in spots. the wood is one of the best to make homemade bows out of i also believe. I'll find a picture of an osage orange ....is this what you are talking about Also known as a Hedge Apple

www.asergeev.com/pictures/archives/compress/1999/102/02.htm

[tailnbone]

I have to agree with freedom....it's gotta be osage orange. Don't eat them!
I've heard from hunters of past that where theres an osage orange tree with monkey balls laying on the ground, your sure to see deer around eating the fruit.
We have alot of these trees around Ohio. Pheasants will pick at them too.
The trees have alot of needle spikes all over the bark and branches, grow real knarly looking and is high in creasote.....not good for burning in a fireplace. You'll usually see these trees growing in a tree row or by a roadside or on the edge of a woods. I've never seen one in the middle of any woods.

[eshoremd]

area 14 of patapsco state park has LOTS of these. i always wondered what they were. they are in the woods on a flat area up on a hill. ive hunted around them but never seen deer eat them. they sure do make a loud thud when they hit the ground. might get smacked in the head if you ground hunted under one of those.

[indianadan]

I've always called them hedge apples.

Nevermind..I see Rick has already said that. I guess it would help if I read the whole thread before spouting off.

[freedomrules3]

indianadan said:

I've always called them hedge apples.

Nevermind..I see Rick has already said that. I guess it would help if I read the whole thread before spouting off.

LOL those in the picture I linked are from Battle Ground IND, those be some of your local hedge apples Dan

On a side not I've never actually ever seen a deer eating them, I have seen them with bites out of them but not sure what did the biting . I do know they are very poisonous to humans. squills eat the seeds in hard years with little mast and most likely deer do too when neccesary .

[Buckfever]

Yeah that's it. Not interested at all in the idea of it as a food source, maybe they were just stepped on. What interested me is that I found a staging area, cluster rubs, all tore up fresh droppings and of course there wasn't a mature tree to be found. And the small trees that I could have set a stand on had no cover. Except for this tree kicking out this fruit. I should bring a camera. The trunk isn't straight at all, except up 20 feet, there was one kinda straight section. If it wasn't for the lone wolf sticks I would not have a setup. The cool thing about this tree is that at about 26-27 feet it provides this beautiful canopy and I'm right in the middle of all the trunks, so it's great cover. The only thing I was worried about was getting hit in the head by one of those things and I was especially worried about my bow before I pulled it up. It seems to be an incredibly strong tree as I had 22 mile an hour winds and really not a very thick trunk and the thing hardly moved in the wind. I've never setup in one before.

[txm]

The Osage orange is a native tree in much of Texas.
The early French explorers named the tree Bois d’Arc and Texans called it and still do Bodark
The fruit is called Horse Apples by most Texans and is readily eaten by all rodents.
Horses eat the fruit and it causes gastric distress and damages there hair.
I have never seen deer eat them .but they are an important food for squirrels during the winter and they tend to eat them most after a hard freeze.
The wood was used to make short and powerful bows by the Indians in this area.
The wood was and still is used for fence posts and is more insect and rot resistant than Redwood.
Nearly all old homes used this wood for the piers in pier and beam home construction.
We still see 90 to 100 year old houses where these piers are still as good as new.
This is some of the hardest wood that you can find and it is very colorful.
I have seen some beautiful flooring and pistol grips made from it.
Two of the happiest days of my life were when we got a chain saw to cut it and the second day was when we started using steel post so that I no longer needed to cut it.
The wood is so hard that it sparked on the chain while we were cutting and a chain would last about one week.
If you ever get a chance to use it for fire wood, don’t.
It will cause mini explosions and blow embers several feet...
Many old houses were burned down when the embers were blown out of a fireplace.
There is an old saying that “You could run the Devil out of Hell with a Bodark fire.”