Real Live Tansmanian Devils

Lots of Roos – mostly Australian Grey Kangaroos.

Today it was off to the Tasmanian Devil Preserve where we got to see wallabies in the bush, watch the feeding of real live Tasmanian devils and quolls, and to actually feed kangaroos and pademelons – very touristy but lots of fun.

If you are like Tom and me you might be thinking, “I’ve heard of kangaroos, wallabies, and even Tasmanian devils but what the heck are quolls and pademelons?” Well, let me tell you. Both are marsupials (the group of mammals commonly thought of as pouched mammals). Like kangaroos and wallabies, they give birth to their young and then the tiny newborn makes its way to the mother’s pouch where it lives snuggly and warm until it is big enough to be on its own. Possums are an example of marsupials in the US.

We also learned that a joey (baby kangaroo) stays in the pouch for anywhere from 7 to 9 months. While that little one is in the pouch, she can give birth to a second who also crawls into the pouch. Luckily the mother has two nipples so both can nurse. Okay, this is the amazing part, while she has two in the pouch, mama kangaroo can become impregnated again but she can hold off giving birth to #3 for two or more months until the oldest joey leaves the pouch. The mama kangaroo is like a baby making machine. It’s no wonder the kangaroo populations are growing so large.

A real live Tasmanian devil. They look like tiny, fat little black bears.

We arrived just in time to catch the end of one of the Tasmanian devil feedings – pretty interesting. There are 2 stories about why they call them devils. One is that when settlers first landed, they would here the loud Tasmanian devils calls in the night and thought that they must be devils. The other is due to their feeding habits. Tasmanian devils (also marsupials by the way) are voracious, carnivorous animals and they eat every part of their prey, and I mean every last bit – bones, fur, nails, innards… you got the picture. Well, you probably don’t want the picture but you get the idea.

A wallaby in the brush. They are too cute.

This was part of the kangaroo compound which was huge. There were eucalyptus trees everywhere and they smelled fresh and wonderful.

Then it was off to hike to the stream where along the way we got to see a red-necked wallaby in the woods, very cute. They are smaller and have pointier faces than the kangaroos.

From there we headed back to the kangaroo compound for the morning feeding of the roos. This was very fun and we participated energetically as you can see from the pictures.

Tom feeding the Kangaroos

Charli feeding a Kangroo. He was holding my hand with both of his while he ate.

Charli feeding the pademelon..

Charli with an Australian grey goose. Look closely, his bill is green.

Mamma and her joey. The joeys can stay for up to 9 months in the pouch. They come out to get a snack and play then crawl back in – Kind of like a Hop-on-hop- off bus.

The pademelon is a smaller cousin of the kangaroo. Their fur is dark, thick and soft and they are very shy. I was lucky that the one let me feed him.

A bird show was next and we got to see cockatoos and best of all a tawny frogmouth. The show was amusing and entertaining and I got to learn about the tawny frogmouth. They are a distant relative of the owl and as you can see they have great camouflage for hiding in trees. They call them frogmouths because they have huge mouths for swallowing their prey.

Little Corel cockatoo – Talky

A Major Mitchell Cockatoo named Naughty. They said when he was given to the preserve, his language was not the best – funny.

Tawny Frogmouth named Sam.

Next was the quoll feeding. They are so cute and so fast. For this feeding, the keeper played a game of hide-and- seek. He hid chunks of meat (quolls are also carnivorous marsupials) around the pen and the two little guys had a great time racing around to find their dinner – very fun to watch.

And here is the real thing, an Eastern Quoll. They’re about the size of a rabbit and even faster.

The last stop, another Tasmanian devil feeding – this was a different pair (brothers). Tom and I got there about 15 minutes early and had them all to ourselves. They were so funny and fascinating to watch. Along with being ravenous eaters, they are extremely competitive. They fight over everything – food, partners, territory, you name it and they squabble over it. In the video they look like they’re yawning, but actually it’s a kind of posturing – baring their teeth to show how tough they are – so male but in honesty the females do it too.

When the keeper came, he brought a chunk of raw meat and tossed it in. As per their normal routine, one grabbed it and took off with the other in hot pursuit. They chased around like this growling and snarling for about 10 minutes then the possessor of the feast went into their hut. His brother joined him and took hold of the other side of the meat and they played tug-o-war until the chunk split in half and both ate and grumbled happily. What a production!

All of the animals were interesting and entertaining, but the devils were the best.

But wait, there’s more! It was a long drive to the Tasmanian Devil Preserve and Port Arthur, and I got bored, so I took some pictures of some of the entertaining road signs along the way. I thought I’d share.