Nurseryman spots carnivorous plant
A Nurseryman, Nigel Hewitt-Cooper, from West Pennard, has said that he has spotted a carnivorous plant in his tropical garden.
He found one of the pitcher plants in his garden had trapped a bird. This is only the second time a plant is documented eating a bird worldwide. The pitcher plant, which is a genus of Nepenthes from South East Asia, attracts insects into a liquid and it then digests.
"I've got a friend who's studied these particular plants extensively in the wild and he's never found evidence of any of them having caught birds," said Mr Hewitt-Cooper.
Mr Hewitt-Cooper also said that he believe that the blue tit bird was attracted to the plant due to insects. "I think it must have leant in to pluck out an insect that was floating on the fluid inside, tipped in too far and become wedged and unable to get out," he added.
