Strange creatures
Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian Devil is the largest carnivorous (eats meat) marsupial (a
mammal that has its babies in a pouch) in Australia. Tasmanian Devils are a
nocturnal (active at night) animal. lives alone and prefers its own company
hence it is a relatively shy animal
DESCRIPTION
The Tasmanian Devil is usually black with a white „collar“ or patch around
its neck. It is the size of a small terrier dog very solid and „stout“ and
weighs in between 6 and 8 kgs It has a tail of between 9 to 12″ long.
Tasmanian Devils have an extremelylarge powerful head with a wide jaw with sharp teeth pointy pink ears (that
turn red when angry due to increased blood flow) and piercing dark eyesIts dark colouring helps it to move around unseen at night time (feeding
time)
LOCATION & HABITAT
The Tasmanian Devil is now only found on the island state of Tasmania and
lives in coastal scrub and eucalypt forests. It is a scavenger so Tasmanian
Devils are also found near human settlementsThey spend the daytime out of sight sleeping in dens lined with grass and
leaves made in hollow logs, or old wombat burrows or small natural caves
They can conserve energy by going into a state of „Tupor“ where its body
heat drops to match its surroundings
See my Pygmy Possum page for more about Torpor
FIGHTINGTasmanian Devils by nature are not aggressive until it comes to food. Then
they are protective of its find and / or kill even to the extent of killing
another Devil that wanted its catch. These fights result in many a
Tasmanian Devil having bald patches of missing fur and appearing battle-
scarred.
EATING
Tasmanian Devils prefer to eat carrion, that is dead animals. They will eat
anything lying around no matter how old and rotten, and their powerful jaws
will help them crush bones so they can devour the whole carcass, meat, fur
and bone, leaving nothing to pollute the environment. They can though kill
their own prey such as snakes, birds, rodents,lizards, and small wallabies
and lamb. it prefers to prey on animals smaller than itself It kills by
inflicting a powerful bight onto the back of the neck or back of its victim
It also needs to drinks water.
SCREAMING
Tasmanian Devils are very loud especially when there are a number of them
at the one carcass, trying to scare each other off. They have a range of
sound, from barks to snorts to growling to screaming !. This screaming and
their fierce looks gave birth to their „Devil“ name
BREEDING
Breeding occurs at the males den which the female visits for a period of 2
weeks or so. Tasmanian Devil babies (Joeys) are born blind and deaf and
little more than a grain of rice in size.Up to 50 are born, who then race (distance of 3 inches) from the birth
canal to the mothers backward facing pouch (So dirt doesn’t enter when she
is digging) to attach themselves to only one of four teats available !Once sucking commences the nipple swells to form an air tight connection to
the joey. They remain attached to the nipple for around 3 months Once they
leave the pouch they are firstly left in the nest whilst their mother goes
for food, and then progress to going out closely accompanied by their
mother After 6 months from birth the joey becomes independent of the mother
A lot of joeys and juveniles do not make it to adulthood, due mainly to
being attacked by adult Tasmanian Devils If hey do survive their growing
year Tasmanian Devils have a lifespan of around 8 years
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
The Tasmanian Devil used to be found all over Australia. It is believed the
Dingo (Australian Wild Dog) was a major reason for the decline of the
Tasmanian Devil on the mainland by competing for the same food source.But because the Dingo did not make it over Bass strait to the Island of
Tasmania (a State of Australia) the Devil survived. The Tasmanian Devils
numbers were very low due to them being killed by both settlers (who
thought the Devil was responsible for major stock losses) and bounty
hunters (who were paid by the government by the number of Devils they
killed). The Tasmanian Tiger was also a predator of the Tasmanian devil.
Now with the Tiger extinct, and protection from the government, as well as
being appreciated by farmers (due to the Devil eating crop eating rodents &
cleaning up carrion) their numbers have stablised, and are now on the
increase.
THREATS
Tasmanian Devils are often hit by cars as they feed on road killed animals,
and they are losing parts of their habitat due to mans increasing use of
their environment Accidents and disease also account for some losses, and
as already mentioned many juvenile devils are attacked by adult Devils
PLATYPUS
The Platypus is an extremely different Mammal found in Eastern
Australia
HABITAT and BEHAVIOUR
The shy Platypus is found only in eastern Australia, where they live on the