You’re probably wondering what orange peels have to do with Christmas trees? I wondered this myself when I first heard of it. Orange peels can be used for lots of things. From making sink disposals smell fresh and clean to keeping mosquitoes off by rubbing the peels on your skin or mixing them with water to form a handy spray. You can toss them into a warm bath or dry them to add to a potpourri. But did you know that you can use them to keep your cat away from your Christmas tree and the gifts beneath it? Why, because cats do not like the smell of oranges.
The ever curious Hunter and Calypso love to get into everything. You’ve heard the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat.” It’s a wonder that these two rascals are still alive and kickin’. They believe that the entire content of our home was put there for them to explore and conquer. So when we put our Christmas tree up, they were there to help supervise the project. Everything had to be sniffed over and approved by them before it was put into place. After the tree was up, they went ‘round and ‘round, circling it in an effort to plan their attack. Keeping an eye on them, my sons and I quietly prepared three oranges.
We lightly scraped the peels of two of the oranges with our thumb nails, then pressed several cloves into each orange as a decoration. The third orange we peeled and then tore the peelings into several pieces. We placed one orange on each side of the tree and circled the orange peels in a line around the edges of the tree’s skirt. We stepped back to watch.
The cats, having been chased away for the tenth time, came bounding up to the tree only to come to a screeching halt a few inches from the tree’s skirt. Extending their necks as far as they could, they sniffed at the peels, wrinkled up their noses, and backed away. Calypso held up her nose in the air and wandered off, pretending she could care less. Hunter determinedly circled the tree over and over again in an attempt to find a way through the barrier. It took him several times of this before he finally gave up.
We are happy to report that our Christmas tree stands safe and secure for the paws of prying cats. At least for now. Too bad this doesn’t deter young children!
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