These are called Osage Orange or “Hedge Balls”. Information below taken from the web:
Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) is a relatively small, unusually twisted, and frequently multitrunked tree with a small natural range in northern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and neighboring parts of Arkansas that roughly coincides with the historical home of the Osage Indians. Because they and other native groups used its wood to make bows, French explorers called the tree “bois d’arc,” and it is still sometimes referred to colloquially as “bodarc” or “bodock.” The range of the Osage orange expanded dramatically between 1840 and 1880 when, before the development of barbed wire, it was seen as the best and cheapest way to control livestock on the Great Plains. When planted close together and appropriately pruned, its branches and spiny thorns make a nearly impenetrable hedge able to turn away any animal larger than a bird or a rabbit. While it remains common in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska and present even in many eastern states, Osage orange fell from general use as cheaper fencing materials became available in the late nineteenth century.
What are you doing on my Michelins? It appears as if the Michelin man is trying to pull the Praying Mantis off.
While we were camping at Copper Breaks State Park outside of Quanah, TX, we encountered Praying Mantis everywhere. They liked hanging on to the coach tires; I believe for the heat.
Notice, the little leg hanging on to the rubber stub on the tire. I when outside to get something out of one of the bays and came back inside with one on my ear! Yikes!
Wolf Song Blog 