Into the Jaws of the Devils

At Christmas Sylvia gave us a book called: “Carnivorous Nights - On the trail of the Tasmanian Tiger” in which three Americans travel to Tasmania with a hope to learn more about the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, which was last documented alive in 1936. It fueled our interest in carnivorous marsupials and Saturday was our big adventure down the Tasman peninsula on the trail of the notorious Tasmanian Devil. We headed to Sorell for brekkie and started off at a brisk pace, only to be pulled over and reminded that we should be more mindful of the speed limit. There is a focus on road safety in Tasmania due to the narrow winding roads and numerous accidents. We tempered our enthusiasm and speed to comply although mumbling that the limits weren't terribly well signed. Along the route there were a number of scenic pullovers which we discovered through geocaching and exploring. At a large blowhole we found some fresh squid, fish and chips for lunch and were amazed at how tender squid is when it hasn't been frozen.

We wandered further down the peninsula toward Port Arthur and found a very busy caravan park to spend the night at and set up our tent. This worked out well then to backtrack a short distance to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park where we came face to face with the notorious devils. Devil populations are struggling in the wild due to a cancerous facial tumor disease that is transmitted by biting. Biting is something that comes very naturally to a devil as we were able to see first hand when we dangled Aiden over the edge as bait, just kidding, it was kangaroo and the caretaker dangled it for three hungry sub-adult devils to consume. With very powerful jaws and designed to be an efficient scavenger, the devils made short work of the food including all the bones which they noisily cracked with earnest.

We also enjoyed a free flight demonstration at the park with a myriad of birds including: a gallah who opened the show, a corella who would fly to people's hands and pick up coins to return and drop in his handlers shirt pocket (and then return them to their owners), a tawny frogmouth who tried to blend in and be a stick, a peregrine falcon with one wing, and a brown falcon who flew under a line of people's legs. All in all an impressive show.

There were also spotted quolls, small carnivorous marsupials about the size of a large squirrel and a few other animals that you would only likely spot in Taz. The only place we spotted Thylacines though were on the licence plates on vehicles and a little booth that showed videos from the Hobart zoo in the 30s.