pitcher plant

Nature is disgusting

/ Shane / 2 Comments

We all know that regular things can evolve into really bizarre things in order to survive. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? But sometimes I wonder if mother nature has gone too far. Case in point, I present to you the “toilet plant“:

Pitcher plants are carnivorous and usually eat insects for nutrients and nitrogen. But in the highlands of Borneo there are not enough for it to survive on insects alone, so the pitcher plant evolved into a toilet plant, complete with standing lid that serves an unusual purpose.

Basically, the lid contains a nectar that these little rodents like to eat. The plant is positioned such that, while the animal is eating the nectar it is positioned to do its business, into (for lack of a better phrase) the plant’s mouth. But the plant doesn’t just stop there, oh no.

There is even some thought that the nectar might have laxative properties

How far would you go to survive? What I don’t understand is, why couldn’t the plant just evolve to eat the shrew?

Giant Carniverous Plants, newly discovered

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Now check THIS out. It turns out that scientists have discovered a new type of pitcher plant in the Philippines that is big enough to eat rats!

I remember being fascinated by pitcher plants and Venus flytraps when I was little. I even had one of those little Venus flytraps you could buy at the drug store or whatever and I saw it eat several flies. It was absolutely terrifying and I’m sure I had nightmares about it, even as I couldn’t take my eyes away from it.

Obviously the idea that one of these things could eat something bigger (me, for example) is a concept that has probably been around as long as carnivorous plants have been around. But now there is actual proof that it is possible. And the thing that really makes it terrifying is that it was just discovered now, when I would have thought any such monstrosities would have long been discovered. If this thing was out there and we didn’t know about it, why not Bigfoot? Why not something even more terrifying?

Could this be far behind?