Baby skunk and hedge apple

This photo was taken by my daughter on Sept. 11. This is a baby skunk walking past the fruit of an Osage orange tree. This fruit is sometimes called mock orange, hedge apple and monkey balls.

The Osage orange tree is native to the United States. Its wood is hard and has an orange tinge. Its sap is very sticky. The tree has thorns.

A single hedge apple is hard and full of seeds. Squirrels will open hedge apples and eat the seeds. Cows have been known to choke to death trying to swallow them whole. The Osage orange tree is not very prevalent in Southeast Missouri.