Sheep-eating Plants (Full Version)

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dcnovice -> Sheep-eating Plants (6/21/2013 10:35:28 PM)

Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? Or maybe science farce. But, as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.

UPI reports:

In its native Chile, Puya chiensis uses its enormous neon spikes to trap sheep in the Andes mountains. After razor-sharp spines on the tips of its leaves ensnare the animal, it starves to death and decomposes at the base of the plant, becoming its favored fertilizer.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Blog/2013/06/21/Sheep-eating-plant-blooms-in-UK/4841371831622/#ixzz2Wv8PsUjF

[image]http://5bca91cbe9e02a494137-e632e7cf8998b2d2c43571c1959fa173.r79.cf3.rackcdn.com/5324528-Ghastly-Sheep-Eating-Plant-Blooms-in-UK.jpg[/image]

[image]http://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/p%20-%20r/images/puya_chilensis_form.jpg[/image]




littleclip -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 12:18:37 AM)

i wonder if there is one that works on politicians and lawyers that would be awsome



theRose4U -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 12:35:57 AM)

Seems like sheep would be able to pull free. Carnivorous plants aren't a new thing.



FrostedFlake -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 12:42:25 AM)

That must be quite a plant. Sheep are tough.

I remember when I was five. Walked out the back door of "grandmas' house" with a sandwich. In a moment one of the sheep said to him or her self, "Holey sheep dip! Kid's got'im a sammich! I better get there FIRST!". Before I could blink twice, there were 25 sheep headed for my sandwich as fast as they could go. I recall not chewing, all of a suddenlike. Making a quick, back of the envelope calculation, their mass divided by my mass, didn't like the number. I recall dropping the sandwich. I recall that not really making the difference I'd hoped for.



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 6:54:48 AM)

Dang, dc, that be one scary-assed plant. What a nasty way to die. Poor critters.



PeonForHer -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 8:29:04 AM)

It's just God's way of punishing them for being so stupid.



mnottertail -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 9:14:13 AM)

We are talking pure velcro physics here.

MrWizard



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/22/2013 9:43:53 AM)

There's a reversal...usually it's plant-eating sheep.



MissKittyDeVine -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 9:05:12 AM)

Could be a good way of getting rid of people. Shall we plant a few of them in the 'tired old topic' section?



Hillwilliam -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 9:53:01 AM)

I just thought of a way to keep those damn kids out of my yard.



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 10:04:02 AM)

Spill



Hillwilliam -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 2:06:45 PM)

Just grow a border of those plants.



LittleGirlHeart -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 2:40:16 PM)

how come the shee[ simply can't get loose?

Are they to dumb to?



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 6:41:26 PM)

They can't, especially when their wool is long, for it becomes all entangled and won't let loose. I assume it poses the greatest problem when they are trying to move through a patch of it, and it gets entangled on both sides of them. I also assume the more they struggle and thrash about, the more entangled it gets.

It's like having long, thick hair, washing it w/o using a conditioner afterwards, and then trying to pull a comb through it. It get's knotted. Same thing w/these critters, except theirs is curlier, so that makes it even worse.

Reminds me of a time in childhood, when I was in the woods. I must have laid my head down on a Burdock plant (Arctium minus), whose burs (seed heads) were perfectly mature. The burs have many hooks on the end, and catch on to anything; hair, animals, clothing, etc., that's how it spreads. The more I tried to get them out, the more the individual pieces w/hooks got entangled. By the time I got home, my hair looked like a horror.

We tried for about an hour to extract the stuff, without success. My hair had to literally be chopped off right down to the scalp. It was the only way.

Here's what the end hooks look like:


[image]local://upfiles/1266908/63D21F2BB27945A386CF34CE5A3B7E6E.jpg[/image]

In fact it was the Swiss inventor, George de Mastrall, who one day took his dog into the woods for a walk and, lo and behold, his pant legs, and dog became covered in the seed heads. After looking at it under the microscope, he came up with a brilliant idea, one upon which I'm sure he made money.

Can you guess what it was? VELCRO!



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 6:47:00 PM)

And here's what the entire seed head looks like. Imagine all those individual seed coverings w/hooks on them getting loose or into pet hair. Worse with sheep.


[image]local://upfiles/1266908/30CF7B386E99429A84970D75258C0917.jpg[/image]



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 6:53:03 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Just grow a border of those plants.


Ya think that may keep the Peeping Tom away from my bedroom window at night?



ShaharThorne -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 7:03:14 PM)

Giant agave plants, Dusky...just brushing by one of them can cause a rash and more trouble.



Duskypearls -> RE: Sheep-eating Plants (6/23/2013 7:49:18 PM)

Oh my goodness, me oh my, you ain't kidding, sista. Those leaf tips are razor sharp, and that's true about the rash. It's even a problem with cousin, Yucca, which we have a lot of in Colorado.

Did you know you can eat every part of the Agave?

Agave treats: burns, cuts, wounds, abrasions, rash, snakebite, diarrhea, jaundice, constipation, pulmonary tuberculosis, syphillis, hypertension, skin diseases, toothache, fever, edema, indigestion, flatulence.

And their functional uses: dry stalk as fire starter drill, kinder. Roots/leaves rubbed into water for natural soap. Crushed root juice as shampoo. Dried leaves peeled into strong cordage; rope, string, thread, cloth, mats, broom. Tip is a sharp needle. Crushed root in bread thrown into pond kills fish, for easy capture.


Cool, huh?!



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