Collecting and camera-hounding carnivorous plants can seem to the main stream like an odd pursuit for odd people. It's true: My second favorite t-shirt reads "introverted but willing to discuss plants" (my favorite t-shirt is NSFW: not safe for the web).

But even odd and insular folk will pair and/or group up at times, my insular self included. Other people can help in a number of ways: They can split the cost of gas, gas station BBQ and sketchy motels. They can help navigate through the sand traps that inevitably mar likely plant locales or -- failing that -- help push you and your vehicle out of them.

You can also trade notes and talk (what else?) plants with them when you are or are not actually finding them in the field.

The best kind of people are plant people. I've managed to capture a few of them in situ (a fancy botanical term that means "in their natural habitat").