I read somewhere today that Osage Oranges put around your house will drive mice out. Has anyone tried this? Any success? Anyone have some they'd like to send me so I can try it?

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), October 19, 2000

Answers

I've heard of it for crickets, & other bugs. I have put them around our house, barn etc. & never had any luck for any of it. Just sticky old hedge balls, that shrivel up, & look bad! And when people say, why do you have hedge balls around here & you tell them, they just say, who on earth told you that & you fell for it??? So all it has worked for is a good laugh on me!! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), October 19, 2000.

Joy, After living with some mice with an attitude, you will never belive what worked. Lavender. I threw handfuls of lavender under the kitchen sink and under the floorboards and the mice are finally coming out to where my cats can get them. In less than 24 hours it worked and is still working. Good luck!

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), October 19, 2000.

My Mom swears by them---gets fresh ones to put under the ktchen sink every fall. She says it works well as a bug repellant, too.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), October 19, 2000.

I have never heard they drive mice away. What I have heard is they keep spiders away. I used to work at a greenhouse that sold them in the fall, and some people would be looking for them the next year saying how wonderful they were.

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), October 22, 2000.

Also Said to repel termites if you throw them in your crawlspace

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), October 22, 2000.

I heard the same thing for bugs. One fall I had a problem with roaches getting into my house. I was sick. I tried several top brand pesticides. Nothing worked. My husband sprayed around the house - I still had them. Finally I stopped along the roadside where there was an Osage Orange tree and picked up two dozen of them. I laid them around the inside of my house and under my house. Within two days I didn't see any more roaches and never had them again because each fall I spread those bright green balls around my house. I love them !!

-- Frisbee (pfrisbee@umr.edu), September 29, 2001.