I did a post the other day about three Tasmanian Devils who had made a break from their enclosure when a gum tree fell on the fence and I thought I would give you an update.
Today it was reported (Herald-Sun) that one of the devils, Scratchy, had been recaptured by locals who chased him, trapped him against a fence and wrapped it him a towel.
Catching him so easily makes the Devils sound all cute and cuddly, doesn’t it? Well, they locked Scratchy in their bathroom while they waited for him to be picked up and he clawed his way through the plasterboard wall. If you look at this report from ABC news it shows the hole in the wall and quotes one of the blokes who caught Scratchy as saying that he had a few beers in him so he wasn’t too worried about getting hurt 😀
The owner says that the capture shows that they aren’t as dangerous as their reputation makes them out to be. I agree, but the ruined bathroom wall might not!
This gives me a chance to add a clip of a Tassie Devil attacking the dangling leg of a keeper. It is not a very good clip (the spelling… grrr…. ) but it will make you keep your feet to yourself if you ever see one.
Buried words and Bushwa. 
I saw it on the news tonight! And no, I would not want one of those babies chewing on my leg, thanks all the same.
I love that they freely admit they were half-cut so the normal precautions one would take when confronting a small carnivore with a huge bite were thrown out the window.
I can imagine them putting poor Scratchy in the back of the car, climbing back in the front to just look at each other and burst out laughing 😀
Scratchy must have not been trying to hard to get away, evading pi**ed blokes in the bush wouldn’t really be that hard, he would have been able to coordinate all four legs whereas their legs….. 😉
lmao! Yes, I wondered how they’d managed it. Maybe they’d only just started drinking and weren’t too far gone. 😉
I just hope the keepers don’t get a trail of mauled cats, dogs and other wild life to follow for the last two.
I expect that if the devils were used to people feeding them it will take some time before they start eating everything that crosses their path. The local wildlife likely has more to worry about from the neighbourhood cats than the devils!
lol – that’s probably true – about the local wildlife I mean. In fact of greater concern is the possibility that the last 2 devils may starve before they’re found. 😦 The instinct to hunt is one thing, knowing how to actually catch something is another. I hope they find them soon.
They might be avoiding capture now, but I bet once they are home they will be glad to be back. 🙂
lol – something to tell their grandkids – the great Adventure!
I think I’d worry pi**ed or not if a Taz got hold of my shoe like that. Talking of cuddly animals, the three degus we have left are beautiful little creatures who love contact with humans and apparently make great pets for teens because of this….BUT ( and it’s a bloody big BUT ) They’re on their third set of balls. If they’re in the mood, they can chew through the plastic walls in two to three days. When Saffy was alone we had her in a cage with a plastic base like a big parrot cage which I had to replace when she chewed holes in the sides of the base. Lucky for me, when Saffy escapes she just strolls about unconcerned about anything and is easily caught to go back in the metal bottomed cage. I wasn’t as lucky when Ju decided to give the freedom of the room to the youngsters as they are very nippy, don’t intend to be caught till they’re ready and were happy to chew through a phone cable, a speaker cable and the digital photo frame cable. Expensive lesson.
It is amazing how critters always seem to find things that are expensive the most delicious, isn’t it? Am I right in thinking that when Lady J gave the little rascals the run of the lounge it wasn’t because she though she would be the only one responsible for catching them? 😉
At least Oscar is keeping away from them, although if they knew getting out could be the end of them they might be a bit more inclined to stay where they are put!
Cool Devil Video . Here is one from our latest blog at http://www.photobotos.com/taz-tasmanian-devil/
I certainly wouldn’t want it to be my boot, that’s for sure.