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

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:22 am
by ian66613
The problem with carnivorous plants is that they wouldn't be able to live in most areas of the United States (or anywhere in North America, and certainly not Mexico.) For instance, all of the sub-tropical regions (including Wisconsin, "America's Dairyland") would be too cool and have too much fluctuating temperatures / weather. Any plains area would be out of the question because of the threat of tornadoes. Any marsh area like in Florida, etc. would have to have an adapted variation of the plant, hiding in tall grass or underwater. You have to take into account the topographical area of the United States for this.

At best, you'd have a super mutated plant known as an Alraune or Dryad, in which the former would have to be changed enough to withstand harsh winters. IE: A Yuki Onna Alraune. Dryads would go into hibernation in the winter, much like most trees, though you could still be consumed by them much like a human could consume you while asleep, unaware.

It doesn't help that we had nuclear tests above ground in our country, the United States, which caused changes in our region's weather systems.

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

PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:30 am
by GeneralUrist
So.... how much realism are we aiming for? First issue in that regard is the camouflage ability. Because anything large enough to swallow an adult and with vines strong enough to lift them would be very hard to disguise. Among other issues is that it would be so big as to be immediately noticeable. Even if it is able to perfectly disguise itself as a harmless plane (which drops our realism by a lot already), this stops it from being a real threat in build-up/cultivated/monitored areas. "wait, that tree/rock wasn't there yesterday! Fuck, it's one of those man-eaters. Hans, get the flammenwerfer."

But in any case, until (not unless) they are eradicated by force, going out into wooded/overgrown areas is suddenly going to become a MUCH less popular pastime.

The exact limits of the clusterfuck depend heavily on the limits of the plant(s) in question, and I'm no biologist.

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

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:50 am
by ZRex030
In a story it's fine to have humans be meek docile prey species, but if you wanna throw around the term "real life" then you should be aware that every living thing on the planet tries its absolute damnedest to stay alive, and humans are no different. Plants are sedentary, mindless, and practically inanimate, while we are the smartest and most dexterous things our planet has ever seen. We have knives, guns, bombs, flamethrowers, and have eliminated most any species that gets in our way.

They would get a handful of people, sure, but realistically they wouldn't last more than a year or so before they're systematically hunted down and uprooted. All we need is some dog sniffing teams and a chainsaw. Maybe some gloves.

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

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:38 pm
by fixated1
Humans are an extremely dangerous specie to any potential predator. We're extremely intelligent, resilient, and resourceful. We're engineered for figuring out how to kill things that should be more dangerous than us. Many people would die in the beginning, but within a month we'd be mercifully preserving the last remaining specimens to keep them from going extinct.

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

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:51 pm
by KungPowPelican
ZRex030 wrote:In a story it's fine to have humans be meek docile prey species, but if you wanna throw around the term "real life" then you should be aware that every living thing on the planet tries its absolute damnedest to stay alive, and humans are no different. Plants are sedentary, mindless, and practically inanimate, while we are the smartest and most dexterous things our planet has ever seen. We have knives, guns, bombs, flamethrowers, and have eliminated most any species that gets in our way.

They would get a handful of people, sure, but realistically they wouldn't last more than a year or so before they're systematically hunted down and uprooted. All we need is some dog sniffing teams and a chainsaw. Maybe some gloves.


Nah, the humans in my vore stories are anything but meek and docile. They always try to fight back with all their might, but get overpowered and swallowed anyway. :lol: Then again, there's a world of difference between one human trying to fight off a man-eating planet (in a fictional story of course) compared to all of a humanity (in "real life") standing together and being determined to eliminate the threat of man-eating plants.

But anyway, I get what you're saying. Human beings are absolutely savage. If man-eating plants existed in real life, we'd certainly do everything in our power to neutralize them as a threat, and we would show them who's at the top of the food chain.

I can imagine all the viral YouTube videos that would start popping up. You just know people are going to want to take pictures and get up close.

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

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:29 pm
by Cowrie
ian66613 wrote:The problem with carnivorous plants is that they wouldn't be able to live in most areas of the United States (or anywhere in North America, and certainly not Mexico.) For instance, all of the sub-tropical regions (including Wisconsin, "America's Dairyland") would be too cool and have too much fluctuating temperatures / weather. Any plains area would be out of the question because of the threat of tornadoes. Any marsh area like in Florida, etc. would have to have an adapted variation of the plant, hiding in tall grass or underwater. You have to take into account the topographical area of the United States for this.

At best, you'd have a super mutated plant known as an Alraune or Dryad, in which the former would have to be changed enough to withstand harsh winters. IE: A Yuki Onna Alraune. Dryads would go into hibernation in the winter, much like most trees, though you could still be consumed by them much like a human could consume you while asleep, unaware.

It doesn't help that we had nuclear tests above ground in our country, the United States, which caused changes in our region's weather systems.

So many problems with this post. First, I don't think you know what "subtropical" means. It is an eco-zone near the tropics, not all areas cooler than the tropics. A good example of the subtropics is Florida. Wisconsin is a temperate region. More importantly, there are many real life small carnivorous plants found in the USA, including the infamous Venus flytrap, which is actually endemic to the Carolinas. Their relatives, the sundews, can be found across most of the globe, including regions as far north as Alaska. Granted, most of these species are annuals, which isn't terribly likely for a plant big enough to eat a person, but that's beside the point. The more relevant determining factor in the evolution of carnivorous plants is soil quality, specifically a lack of nutrients.

This isn't particularly relevant to the thread as a whole, but ian's statements were making my eye twitch, so I had to set things straight.

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

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:30 pm
by Monokarp
Yesterday we played "Trine 2", there were just such plants! :gulp: :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFcrccl ... _kTI4Z3g_3