Bogs - Where The Plants Eat The Animals

Bog waters are low in minerals and tend to be extremely acidic. They are also low in dissolved oxygen because a mossy mat covers the water and prevents contact with the air. The increased acidity, low oxygen levels and low mineral content slows down the rate of decay in the bog. Plants, animals and people who have fallen into bogs have been preserved like mummies for centuries. The lack of nutrients in bogs has resulted in certain plants, such as sundew and butterwort, to evolve in a peculiar fashion. They have evolved so that they can obtain the missing nutrients by other means - by trapping and eating insects!

Quite a few plants have special ways of trapping and eating insects and small animals. They are often found in poor soil habitats. They trick their prey into the deadly traps, where their bodies are turned into a liquid. The plant then soaks up the liquid. Sundew plants trap insects in the sticky red hairs that cover their leaves. As the insect struggles to escape, the hairs curl around it tighter and tighter so that the insect sticks firmly to the leaf.