just read this an thought it belonged here :P

[mylesG]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-22967160

at first i thought it to be a joke but i think its actually legit

 

[divaskid]

Very cool! I've never heard of this plant before.
Wish it was closer, I'd go see it for sure!

 

[DragonsEye]

Color me extremely skeptical as to the animal snaring. There are any number of cacti and agaves that would be just as capable of snaring a large clumsy animal. But for food? Please. If an animal was barreling along full tilt and plowed into a patch of these then yes the animal might get so ensnared and injured as to be unable to free itself. But that would be no different than if the animal hit a similar patch of some of the more wickedly endowed agaves or cacti. For that matter, it is not unheard of for animals to get trapped in a briar patch or thicket. Hardly means the plant is trying to trap prey.

 

[mylesG]

whether by design or not, it definitely benefits from the resulting nutrients in the root zone.

 

[Maiden]

Almost all the plants absorbs nutrients on roots level. Dead insects are everywhere on every ground in every country. So nothing special here, exept the capacity of accumulating dead bodys near the plant.

MylesG: big game tonight !! Go bruins and rask for the CS !

 

[Cthulhu138]

Haha Puya species don't "snare sheep" this is total BS. HAHAHAHA

 

[Plant Planter]

Believe it or not, I saw this on Bing.

 

[BioZest]

lol I want one for my back yard . Cool article...poor little sheeps.

 

[Plant Planter]

...Hardly means the plant is trying to trap prey.

I agree. I wouldn't call this plant carnivorous; it only has evolved some sort of characteristic that sheep get stuck in every now and then. It's like how Venus flytraps do not attract mosquitoes, but every now and then the occasional misguided mosquito is eaten. In this case, the plant did not mean to eat the bug--the bug just blundered into the trap on accident. I won't be surprised if thousands of years from now if that plant evolves to be carnivorous since it understands that it can use its thorns to catch things. However, that's thousands of years in the future--and that's also assuming that plants still exist on Earth thousands of years from now.