Introduction
The Venus Flytrap is the only carnivorous plant of it's type. It's native habitat is in the Carolinas of the eastern U. S. It grows
in bog areas with no nutrients. By catching and digesting insects and other small invertebrae it is able to obtain the nutrients
it needs to thrive. The plants are dormant in the winter and do not produce new traps are produce them only very slowly.
New traps are produced in the summer. Often the plant produces a stem with white flowers. The Venus Flytrap
must have the dormant winter period or it will not thrive and slowly decline.

Method Used to Capture Prey
The trap has two parts that are hinged on one side. The other side has quarter inch spines which form a barrier when closed.
Inside the trap there are 3 "trigger" hairs on each half. In order to trigger the closing mechanism the prey must touch
at least two hairs or one of the hairs twice.The trap closes very fast. If the hairs are not triggered again once the trap closes,
it will re-open. This is to prevent the plant from wasting energy trying to digest rain drops or debris. With an insect that
continues to move and touch the hairs the trap closes tighter. The spines prevent the insect from escaping during this struggle.
The plant begins to digest the insect at this point by releasing digestive enzymes. The nutrients from the insect are absorbed
by the trap. It will take 4 to 6 days for the trap to finish the process and re-open.

Growing Venus Flytraps
These plants need as much direct sunlight as possible. If grown indoors place them in a south facing window. If you do grow
the plant indoors don't forget that they must have a cold, dormant period in the winter. A mix of one part peat moss and one
part sand(make sure the sand does not have lime in it)or perlite is an ideal growing medium. DO NOT grow in regular
potting soil as it may contain nutrients which will harm or kill the plant. This means you do not fertilize! The plant gets it's nutrients
from the prey it captures. The container should be plastic as clay pots absorb salts or minerals that may leach back into the soil.
Place the container in a tray or saucer with about 1/2 inch of water. Rain water is best or distilled water. It is not the chlorine
in tap water that is the problem, it is the minerals so the most important thing is to NOT use hard water. I use the water from
a de-humidifier or the condensation from an air conditioner unit. Although it's tempting to trigger the traps this should be kept
to a minimum as it uses a lot of energy. If you want to feed the plant use live insects not hamburger or other scraps of food!
You can trim off dead, brown traps. If the plant produces a flower stalk you may want to trim it off as it uses a lot of energy
to produce the flower and seed.