The Venus fly trap is a wonder of God's engineering. It has an ingenious method, quite different from other plants, for getting food. This meat-eating plant usually lives in mineral-poor soils. Therefore, it catches its food in order to provide the needed nutrients for survival. When an insect touches the tiny trigger hairs inside the trap, an electric signal is sent to cells on the outside of the trap. This implulse almost instantly causes the outer cells to secrete an acid which breaks down the cell wall. This, in turn, causes cells to expand, closing the trap at high speed. The more the insect fights, the more tightly the trap closes. Six to twelve days later, after the insect is digested, the plant receives a chemical signal and the trap opens to await its next meal.
Why do animals and even plants, have to fight each other for their very survival? Is this really the creation that God described as “very good”? Actually, it is not. All of creation exhibits a fallen, agressive nature due to the actions of Adam and Eve in the original garden paradise. It is unknown whether the complex mechanisms of survival demonstrated by the Venus fly trap were present but dormant before the Fall, or were designed within the plant for survival after the Fall. Either way, the Venus fly trap is a marvel of purposeful design which gives testimony to the genius behind the creation.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, January 23.
