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What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:59 pm
by KungPowPelican
Let's say that man-eating plants existed in real life, and they were quite common in places all over the world.

These plants were large enough to swallow a grown adult whole and alive (clothes and all). The monstrous plants are incredibly dangerous, could be found anywhere, and know how to camouflage themselves until they're ready to strike. They start by grabbing the victim's leg with one of their vines, drag the person towards it, and devour them headfirst. Lastly, these plants wouldn't just be found in secluded places like the rainforest, but might even be in people's backyards, as well as forests that are right outside college campus.

How would people react to the fact that these kinds of plants actually do exist, and are alive, hungry, and dangerous? Would there be cases on the news of people going missing and getting devoured by these plants? I wonder how we'd deal with this threat.

All I can say, I feel sorry for any girl on college Campus who decides to go for a morning jog in the forest all by herself.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:37 pm
by Bright
CherryMigration wrote:
How would people react to the fact that these kinds of plants actually do exist, and are alive, hungry, and dangerous?


https://memegenerator.net/img/instances ... werfer.jpg

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:44 pm
by Hoodoo
Considering that carnivorous plants work on the simple assumption that their prey is as stupid as they are.. they almost all simply seek to trap prey inside a space and wait for them to digest without any idea of how or what to do to escape from the trap they've found themselves in. Unlike other predators, they do not kill their prey first, or render them incapacitated in any significant way by injuring them.

Humans, luckily, are not stupid animals. People would just carry pocket knives to cut themselves out with. Problem solved.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:58 pm
by polyedit2000
First, a gardener's going to be a profitable and dangerous job. Second wild cat population is going to be at an all-time low.

Well, if the Super Weed-Killer doesn't work, I'm pretty sure that humanity will start to make enclosed walkways and raised buildings to keep them separate from killer plants.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:03 pm
by Aril_Lisidmuthir
Plus, those plants wouldn't live very long to survive into the modern world; if we're going for "These plants have always existed since the dawn of civilisation"
If they suddenly appeared one day and all over the world, well that's another issue.

First of all, you've have a few weeks of people going missing to these new plants before people start carrying knives with them and others will arm themselves with flamethrowers (both homemade and otherwise).

The only living specimens left would be found in those secluded areas but those have their own problems that already kill people who wander in there and they'd have to compete.

Plus scientists would be looking into just how those plants got to Earth and you'd have a few specimens in labs being studied for good or ill. Now there's your vore plot you're looking for.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:11 pm
by KungPowPelican
Aril_Lisidmuthir wrote:If they suddenly appeared one day and all over the world, well that's another issue.


I guess I should've been a bit more specific in my original post, because this is what I meant, lol.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:30 pm
by TakanTwins
If these plants appeared one day randomly, the first thing would be a severe spike in deaths, disappearances, missing people. Given the proliferation of them however, it would not be long before their existence became common knowledge. Given how quickly deaths are reported on, I imagine it would be a manner of days, if not hours before humanity found out. Now, with the information out, there would be panic. Information would still be scarce on how the plants operate, some survivor stories if they had managed to escape, or people who had been travelling in groups when the plants struck and managed to flee. People would more likely flee to cities or other built up areas with less greenery and plant life. Depending on the camouflage ability and how it specifically works, this might not do people any good, however I would assume these plants would struggle adapting to an urban environment. It also depends on if they are mobile, or only have a specific area of effect.

Beyond the initial panic there would be great efforts to study these new plants, research done into how to identify them. Any advantage we could get we would take. If they showed up on thermal vision, then that would be used, or if there were other specific things people could watch out for. Task forces would be assembled to destroy the plants, with an emphasis of never being alone, and trying to take them on one at a time, clearing areas of woodland near to major civilized areas first and then moving outwards to secure transport routes to ensure trade and people can keep travelling. As time went on, there would probably be bio science and chemical advances into methods of destroying the plants, possibly full scale biological warfare.

Personally I believe humanity could overcome this adversary, and if not completely eradicate it, then adapt around. There would still be deaths of course, but hopefully minimized to an acceptable number. Of course there are other factors to think about. If the plants are mobile, they present more of a threat, if they can assume camouflage that we don't have means of detecting, again it becomes more of a problem, though with travelling in a group you could probably mitigate this as soon as someone was in it's clutches. You also have to consider the climates across the world. Can it survive in all biomes, or is it limited in it's geographical placement. And, assuming it needs the mass amount of protein it would get from a human sized meal, how long before a plant like that would starve to death?

Lots of interesting things to think about.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:45 pm
by KungPowPelican
TakanTwins wrote:SNIP


Excellent post, with some great points about if man-eating plants existed in real life. I should mention that the plants aren't mobile (fortunately), but their camouflage does make them practically undetectable until they're ready to strike. I could definitely see a lot of panic as people start fearing going for walks by themselves or even going outside. Especially those who lives near the forest or have a really huge backyard. The plant can survive in all kinds of environments, by the way.

Also, it would definitely be interesting to hear some survivor stories about people's encounter with the plants.

"I was out with a group of friends enjoying the weather, then the next thing I knew...I was fighting for my life. I didn't see it coming at all. It was slimy inside, it was pitch black...I couldn't breathe at all. I was struggling and screaming, and I could hear my friends panicking and calling out my name as they managed to grab my feet and pull me out. We then ran like hell, all fighting for our lives. I'm still really shaken up by it, and I'm just glad my friends were there to help me or I would've been a goner. For anyone who's thinking of going for a walk, I'd advise you NOT to go alone."

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:09 pm
by minakotomoka14
Like the Day of the Triffids? That would be awful, the hell with that.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:47 pm
by Kitsouille
People of the cities wouldn't be at much risk. There wouldn't be a lot of places to use camouflage effectively and there is a lot of people around to help, not to say there aren't any empty places or times during the day where everyone is gone.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 2:36 am
by IvesBentonEaton
I expect that any plant large enough to be dangerous to humans would soon find that they were too large to be dangerous to humans. We'd soon have samples and paying Monsanto or some other corporation to develop a specific toxin to deal with it. We'd bio-engineer insects to feed on them. We'd identify patches by drone and napalm them.

Hollywood humans would have trouble. Real humans don't fight fair.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 2:49 am
by MechaSharkZilla
Man-eating plants just suddenly appearing? Well, I know what my first thought is on how to deal with them.

Spoiler: show
Image


Plants can be fire resistant. Some plants require fire to spread their seeds. No plants can deal with thousands of pounds of napalm.

I'd rather live in an ecological dead zone, with all our food grown in specifically quarantined growbeds, than have to deal with man-eaters.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:54 am
by Tassie
I get this feeling carnivourous plants would either be like everyone says and they would get exterminated so they only live in places far away, or they would be like car accidents if they were very common. Everyone would be used to living by them, know they were there and what to look for, and they would be dangerous and when someone disappeared because of one, it would be a tragedy, but hardly newsworthy.

Maybe there would be some good YT videos of these disappearances.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:58 am
by Sideromelane
I feel like this is a familiar theme.

http://www.prirodniskola.cz/media/files ... iffids.pdf

Oh yeah. Enjoy!

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 8:00 pm
by sabrina_diamond
What better time but to ask the Venusians of my stories. They are humanoid when in disguise, but are actually plant-like beings of human-size. And yes, they can eat other humans in their plant-form, under certain conditions... They come from planet Venus, by the way. :-D

Now, if we're talking about Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors... run. :evil:

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 8:47 pm
by VelveteenDreams
Someone earlier said that carnivorous plants eat off the assumption their prey is kinda stupid. It's mostly slow, so I can see myself willingly letting myself get eaten without the fear of the 'dangerous' part.

Now if we're talking Hollywood carnivorous plants then I'd be pretty scared for the human race, but honestly, they stay in one place as far as I can tell; simple answer is just don't go near them? Cut off paths that lead to their habitats? We already have maneating animals that actually move by their own volition and the only amount of concern we show is shouting 'fek off!' and putting up 'don't feed the obligate carnivore' signs.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:15 pm
by Cygni
If they existed, they would probably only be native to Australia.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 1:14 am
by Aril_Lisidmuthir
Maenethal wrote:If they existed, they would probably only be native to Australia.


They'd develop mobility just to get away from the wildlife.

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 3:06 am
by sabrina_diamond
Aril_Lisidmuthir wrote:
Maenethal wrote:If they existed, they would probably only be native to Australia.


They'd develop mobility just to get away from the wildlife.


Good thinking... :gulp: I also found this article on carnivorous plants:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/201 ... s-science/

Re: What if Man-Eating Plants Existed in Real Life?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:56 am
by blergle
I think word would get around pretty quickly and every nation's military would be on finding and eradicating these things really soon after they appeared. As a species we are very good at eliminating our predators (as long as they are not human ones, we *suck* at eliminating those).