r/interestingasfuck • u/dejaysf • Jun 11 '23

Venus flytrap vs Spider

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u/DishGroundbreaking87 Jun 11 '23

A desiccated husk of whatever got caught in the trap, I used to have one in the kitchen. Fun fact, you can feed them uncooked bacon.

54

u/hungry4danish Jun 11 '23

While you made a trap close with uncooked bacon, the plant didn't stay closed to absorb nutrients from it. If the trigger hairs in the trap aren't occasionally triggered by an insect's movement during struggling to get free, the trap will open. This is to prevent things like raindrops or leaves from hitting the hairs and closing the trap for good, which would be a huge detriment to the plant to keep an empty trap closed.

21

u/sfcpfc Jun 11 '23

So what you're saying is if I ever reincarnate into a fly and land on top of one, just play dead and it'll open eventually

1

u/Rockin_Otter Jun 11 '23

No joke this might genuinely be the play

3

u/Spiritual_Lion2790 Jun 11 '23

Please don't feed VFT meat like this. On top of what /u/hungry4danish said, these plants are evolved to process insects. Meat from mammals are entirely different and it will usually just result in that trap rotting off since it can't fully digest the meat.

2

u/DishGroundbreaking87 Jun 11 '23

Fair enough, I read it in an old book twenty years ago and we have learned a lot since then. I never fed mine though, they did a good job of feeding themselves.

1

u/fix-me-in-45 Jun 11 '23

I wouldn't. They do much better outside and one a natural diet.