The Mysterious Case of the Vampire Vine of Nicaragua

Ours is a green word ruled by plantlife, much of it very weird and
little understood, but at times it gets even weirder still. In the
world of mysterious undiscovered plants and animals, surely one
of the most bizarre corners is that of man-eating, carvivorous
plants. Throughout history there have been tales of various trees,
plants, and vines that seem to seek out human flesh, defying all
that we think a plant should be, and one of the most frightening
of these must be a vampiric, blood-drinking vine said to dwell in
the deepest swamps of Nicaragua. (https://bit.ly/3Q3FmNx)
The vine is referred to by the natives as “The Devil’s Snare,” and
is described as being rather like an octopus in appearance. The
plant was described by one naturalist by the name of Mr. Dunstan,
who came face to face with its horrifying nature while spending two
years studying the plants and animals of the region. In the account,
Dunstan claimed to have come across the plant while in a swamp
region near Lake Nicaragua. Dunstan, who was collecting plant
and insect specimens in the area, suddenly heard his dog let out
a high pitched whine of terror, pain, or both. Dunstan allegedly
hurried to the source of the cries and found his dog enveloped by
a network of rope-like roots and fibers. These fibers were of
a dark, nearly black hue, and were covered with a thick gum that
seemed to exude from some sort of pores. This gum was reportedly
extremely adhesive and had a foul, animal odor. The ensnared dog
struggled within this fibrous network and was wailing as if in
a great deal of pain.
Once the startled Dunstan was able to recover from this gruesome
sight, he tried desperately to cut the dog free with his knife, but
found the vines to be surprisingly difficult to cut and to his horror
found that the plant’s rope-like tendrils actively wrapped and
curled themselves around his hands like sinuous fingers. Dunstan
was able to extricate the animal only after an enormous amount
of effort and he noticed that the grasping vines had left the skin
of his hands red and blistered. He also noticed to his amazement
that the dog was bloodstained and covered in spots that seemed
puckered as if they had been sucked. The dog, though still alive,
was extremely disoriented and had difficulty walking.
The naturalist told the natives of his encounter and they explained
that the vine was well known and feared in the area, warning him
to stay well away from it. Undaunted, Dunstan tried to collect more
information on the bizarre vine, but found it to be very difficult
to approach or handle. However, through his observations he
apparently deduced where the plant’s remarkable suction abilities
derived from and how it fed.
Dunstan also described how the plant was extremely hard to get
off once it latched on, and could only be pulled away with a great
deal of effort and possibly lost skin as it tried to actively hang on.
He eventually gave up his studies on the vampire vine and very little
else is known about it. Incidentally, another such supposed
predatory vine was also reported in 1852 from the impenetrable,
uncharted rain forests of interior Africa.
That is about where his reports on the mysterious vine ends. Dunstan
apparently eventually gave up his studies on the vampire vine he had
found and very little else is known about it. It is left a very odd
historical oddity lodged within this explorer's notes, frustratingly
evading any answers or further information, and one wonders why
he would just give up on such a potentially groundbreaking discovery.
What did he encounter out there? Was this some form of previously
unknown very aggressive and very dangerous plant life, or was
it something else? What happened after this incident and why has
it faded into the mists of time? Did any of it ever really even
happen at all? It sadly seems we may never know for sure.