In our local newspaper the other day it was written that this lady from a place called Westbury (with bush nearby a 30 minute drive to the town) not far from where I live let her two dogs out in the morning, the lady herself went to the toilet, her two dogs were barking madly, a Tasmanian Devil ran inside to get away from the dogs and the Devil went to the back of the toilet whilst the women was still sitting there. The lady quickly moved and closed the bathroom door where her toilet was. The lady phoned a wildlife rescue person to come and collect the Devil which they did, during the process the bathroom was wrecked to a degree!
Must have been a frightening experience and as my husband has family living in that town, I will find out who the lady was. I can see the funny side to this story!
Now what a fright that would have been, never heard of such a tale before - only in Tasmania this could happen.
A couple of photos of the Tasmanian Devil which are borrowed with permission. They are certainly not a cute animal.
Tasmanian Devils, once widespread across mainland Australia are now confined to Tasmania, becoming extinct on the mainland about 3,500 years ago, possible due to dingoes and other factors. These Devils have faced and are still facing a contagious facial tumor disease which has led to their endangered statues once again.
I do believe a few zoos in other States of Australia have a few Devils.
The first Europeans to enter Tasmania imagined demons lurking in the bush when they heard the blood-curdling shrieks and grows. Hence being dubbed 'devils'. It's now known that their various vocalisations (coughs, growls, snorts, sniffs, screeches and even sneezes) are designed to scare off other animals.
