The Green Goblins: Carnivorous Plants Bite Back

Terrestrials | Oct 30

Pull on your wading boots because we’re taking you on a haunted swamp tour… of meat-eating plants! Our journey begins in a bog in North Carolina, where a fly lands on what looks like a tiny pair of green jaws. Suddenly, they snap shut. A venus flytrap has just caught its dinner. But why would a plant eat meat in the first place?

Our resident bug expert, Dr. Sammy Ramsey, reveals the answer as he introduces us to the world's strangest carnivorous plants. From pitcher plants with slippery waterslides of doom, to sundews covered in sticky lollipop traps, to underwater bladderworts that suck up their prey in a millisecond. Along the way, we’ll meet tree shrews that poop into plants, bats that sleep inside them, and baby mosquitoes with butt snorkels! Ultimately, we’ll discover why these fearsome plants might actually be some of the least confrontational creatures in the garden.

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC studios. This episode was produced and reported by Alan Goffinski with sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick. Our Executive Producer is Sarah Sandbach. Our team also includes Ana González, Natalia Ramirez, Tanya Chawla and Joe Plourde. Factchecking by Diane Kelly.


 

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