Joe Noviello, age 12, of So. Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for his question:
Is there really a Tasmanian devil?
A devil, of course, is supposed to be a very undesirable character with hoofs, horns and lashing tail. If he really lived in the world of nature, chances are he could not scare even a fly. Because, in the world of nature, all the animals with hoofs and horns are vegetarians. True, bulls are fighters and have fiery tempers, but most hoofed animals are not at all devilishly dangerous.
Sometimes the world "devil" is stretched to mean almost anything that happens to be unpleasant to our human way of life. This is what happened when they named a certain animal of Australia, Tasmania and nearby islands. This fellow was rated as a pest because he raided the chickens and even the sheep folds. The farmers and ranchers whose stock he stole called him a devil. They hunted him down and drove him from Australia forever. Somehow he managed to survive on the island of Tasmania and now he is known as the Tasmanian devil. No one ever gave him a friendlier name.
He looks somewhat like a jet black bear cub, three feet long with a foot long furry tail. There are white blotches on his throat, shoulders and rump. His bulky head and powerful shoulders look too big for his rather weak hindquarters. His fierce character adds to his devilish reputation, especially since his toothy jaws are strong enough to attack animals much bigger than himself. He is a native of marsupial territory and most marsupials are gentle vegetarians. The Tasmanian devil also is a marsupial, but as you might expect, he breaks the usual rules and dines on meat.
This unusual meat eating marsupial prowls by night, displaying another of his devilish characteristics a very loud voice. As he snoops around, from time to time he pauses to utter a long snarl, ending with a throaty growl. But his favorite note is a blood curdling yell that echoes through the night, startling people from their sleep. When hunting is good, he feeds on rats, mice, and frogs and occasionally he crunches a crab in his powerful jaws. When hunting in the wilds is bad, he approaches the territory of man to steal a chicken, or even make off with a lamb.
The female Tasmanian devil's babies are born in May and they spend the first month of life in her fur lined pouch. When they are too big to be toted around, she hides them in a grassy nest among the rocks. Soon the little devils are ready to explore the world. Their mother takes them along on her nightly hunting trips and teaches them how devils, or at least Tasmanian devils, should behave in order to survive. In many regions, land cultivation has destroyed their natural food. So in desperation she teaches them to steal.
When the Tasmanian devil is captured as an infant, people find nothing devilish about him at all. He loves being a pet, and with no food problems on his mind, the little rascal turns into a friendly, fun loving, character. His owners enjoy watching his antics, especially the way he washes himself. To perform this daily duty, he sits on his haunches, licking his little hands and cupping them together to scrub his furry body, face and head.