Blumstein, before reading the details of the study, thought that the carnivorous behavior might have been isolated to female squirrels desperate for the nutrients needed to feed their young.

Utricularia vulgaris, also known as a bladderwort, is a carnivorous plant that traps its prey using specialized hollow, water filled trap bladders.

For smaller omnivorous and carnivorous mammals such as masked palm civets or elephant shrews, nectar can act as a high-calorie supplement.

The fire also swept through parts of the island that have rare habitats for sensitive plant and animal species found nowhere else, such as the endangered San Clemente loggerhead shrike, a carnivorous songbird.

The key to killing a local colony of red imported fire ants is using a combination of chemical drenches and greasy bait, because the carnivorous ants love protein.