RE: Venus Fly Trap
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Forty years ago, in a forest near my grandmother house, similar plant (common sundew - this one) used to grow on sunlit clay patches near the mudhole that filled with water after the rain. It was only accompanied by some moss. Looked like nothing would grow near. The fly eaters were destined to have their little kingdom safe from invasion forever.
But then young people left the village, horses were replaced by tractors and then cars, cattle that used to graze near the plant were substituted by milk and meat bought in the shop, forest started to reclaim unused pastures. Now the dirt roads that used to be impassable during winter have asphalt and are well maintained, the boonies turned into suburban area with many new houses. And what happened to the carnivorous kings of the mudhole? The area where they used to grow is covered mostly by invasive Canadian goldenrod and some kind of tall wetland grass. Only if you try to go there after the rain you might accidentally walk into the water puddle that used to be center of the late kingdom. Sundew is no more 😢
Fun facts/speculations - some argue that bramble and sheep-eating plant are examples of protocarnivorous plants (with ability to trap and kill, but not to directly digest).
I could actually buy that theory about bramble, as I have seen animals trapped that, had they not been rescued, would surely have died and rotted to nourish the bramble. Gruesome, but undeniably effective.
Down in Jackson County, Oregon, there's an area above the Rogue River that is home to pitcher plants. It's obnoxious country, sere and rawly rugged, so I didn't bother them, as is prescribed anyway.