"Aaron Hicks" wrote in message
...
"Ted Byers" spaketh thusly:

Its ironic that you mentioned this at this time since, after I responded,
it occured to me that there were a wide range of carnivorous plants that,
if you can keep them happy (I haven't had much luck with venus fly trap
yet), would be a very useful tool in your pest control arsenal. But you
beat me to it WRT pointing this out. ;-) It is too bad there aren't
carnivorous plants that will make a meal of mammalian pests!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That would be either Nepenthes rajah. However, its cultural
conditions are difficult to achieve for 99% of us. But if you *can* grow
it well, pitchers may exceed 2 liters in capacity (the record is about 3.5
liters), and can trap mice or rats.

I had no idea there were carnivorous plants that large. Is N. rajah winter
hardy in Canada? What exactly are its cultural requirements, and where
might it be acquired? (As a scientist, I LOVE a challenge - if something is
easy, it is hardly worth doing!!!!!!) All the carnivorous species
specimens I have personally seen have been small, able to take nothing
larger than a house fly; though it is certain I haven't seen the largest
individuals of any species.

Noisy neighbors, unfortunately, are still too big.

Maybe a little selective breeding with N. rajah is called for? ;-)

Any idea what the largest stinging nettle would be?

Cheers,

Ted