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Irish Peatland
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Comhairle Chaomhnaithe
Phortaigh na hÉireann

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Plants that eat animals are called carnivorous plants. There are hundred of different kinds and they grow all over the world.

In Ireland carnivorous plants love bogs. There are squishy Bladderworts, sticky Sundews and Butterworts and slippery pitcher plants.

Sundews are little red plants. They look like they are covered in dew drops, but they're not. The shiny bits are sticky like honey for trapping bugs. When a bug gets stuck on a Sundew, the leaf curls up slowly around it. Then the soft bits of the bug are dissolved by chemicals and eaten. Afterwards the leaf opens up again and the left over bits fall off.

Butterworts are carnivorous plants too, and often grow in the same places as Sundews. They have flat leaves like fly paper. Little bugs stick to the leaves and slowly dissolve.




The sticky Sundew plant traps up to 5 insects each month.








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