Venus Mantrap

The swamps of the south have always been an interesting and dangerous place to roam. The Event, predictably, has only made things worse. One such danger is the Venus Mantrap, huge carnivorous plants with an arsenal of adaptations to lure in and slay its next meal.

To the unsuspecting passer by, the plant appears to be a gigantic flowering vine stretched out in a clearing of the surrounding overgrowth. Larger, central ropey vines run along the ground with the occasional flower blooming where warmed by the sun. Radiating out from each of these blooms will be found more leafy, thorny vines. The network of these plants has been known to spread for several hundred feat with no known limit other than that imposed by a limited food source.

Each flower, when fully grown opens its four petals to reveal the first of the plants weapons. The petals when fully extended resemble a flat rock lying on the ground, sitting in the center of this "rock" is what appears to be a large loaf of bread. In reality this is the highly specialized anther of the flower. The pollen given off by the anther has a rich yeasty smell, just like fresh bread baked and set up to cool. This pollen spreads on the wind and if the smell was not enough, has a mild chemical reaction in omnivores bodies that induces strong pangs of hunger which are hard to resist.

The second weapon the Mantrap has are those thorny vines just waiting to be triggered when the victim finally finds its way in to claim the tasty loaf just lying there for the taking. Once a petal of the flower is touched the vines writhe into action flailing about until making contact. Once contact has been made with the creature coil after coil is thrown over it until the weight pulls it to the ground (or in many cases, beneath the murky surface of the swamp). The thorns of the vines are laced with a narcotic sap that induces lethargy and finally sleep. Nutrients are then slowly drained from the victim until all that is left is a hollow husk which is pushed as far away (or dragged under) from the main plant as possible so as not to warn the next unfortunate searching for a fresh slice of bread.

Tactics: When establishing itself the Mantrap core vine exudes a modified version of the narcotic sap found in the thorns of the grasping vine. This sap stunts the growth of surrounding vegetation allowing the flowers to get adequate sunlight to mature and bloom. Having no centralized root system the network of vines has been known to move within proximity of a source of food when its currently supply becomes depleted. In addition to the behavior of an attack above the plant knows to avoid attempting to lure in additional victims once an attack has been successful. No hunger is strong enough to cause someone to ignore a large body coiled in vines being drained of life right next to a tasty loaf of bread. Flowers within close proximity to a victim are closed until it has been disposed of. If the plant senses more than one creature lured in it will somehow know to wait until as many as possible have come within reach, and only then lash out.