American chestnut pod

Great! First I thought it's a kind of strange animal.

Thanks! It was shaped like a ball until I touched it with my toe.

I can see haw you would think that. A fat caterpillar!

... American Chestnut: so jealous you have them there ... they were the pre-eminent hardwood of the Mid- and Southern Appalachians until the blight wiped them out. Forty years ago there were 2 chestnut stumps in my woods that were still sending up shoots every Spring, but the blight killed the new growth every time, and eventually the stumps just gave up.