See Don T ALMOST get bitten by an 11-month old “Joey” Tasmanian Devil on February 19th!!! … (ps. I’m quicker. Add that to my resume’)
An amazing experience during a private evening feeding at Devils at Cradle; Tasmania.
This is one of the “insurance” policies to ensure Tasmanian Devils do not go extinct. There are about 900 devils living in similar sanctuaries in Australia. Only Tasmania has Devils in wild
See some factoids from my notes:
Sarah was our Devil handler….. all I can say is GREAT
Devils live 5yrs max. MAYBE 8 in captivity
Females are 5-6kg Males 8kg
Devils are marsupials. Females mate with numerous males. Will give birth after 21-days to 20-40 newborns (size of grain of rice) with 2 arms….. 4 newborns crawl into pouch & attach to a teat in pouch ….. others perish.
There are 40-80,000 devils in Tasmania. 900 in sanctuary’s which are the “insurance policy” to ensure existence.
60k lost to cancer over past 20 years. 2 strains were prevalent.
Cradle Mountain consumes 500kg meat per week! Provided by hunters
Devils will eat up to 40% of body weight in a single gorge of 30 minutes!!!! Will pass out, awaken & continue eating
Female devils with hair pulled on rear were recently mothers. Joeys cling to backside
When their ears turn red it’s because of blood flow when excited. Cools the blood, not unlike an elephant.
Our feeding was recent mothers….
Humbling to witness in person
Dinner time of dead wallaby leg and tails...... they eat EVERYTHING.....
FEEDING TIME of dead Wallaby......
HORRIFYING Sounds fighting over food..... Note handler is totally safe....
As ferocious as they are, Tasmanian Devils will GENERALLY not attack people, but only eat DEAD meat.....
A new mother with bare patches on back side from carrying joey Devils.....
The Red Ears of an "excited" devil!
Isn't she cute? Until she almost took my finger off! Devils have a stronger bite than rottweilers
Don T ALMOST gets his finger hammered by an 11-month old "joey" (ie: Baby) Devil!!!
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