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tasmanian devil


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i think the disease was the worlds first contageous cancer. massive tumours on the face and neck was wiping them out. then i think they found an isolated pocket of them somewere. and took one and isolated the gene that was responsable for the tumours and then innoculated the others giving them some resiliance against the disease. makes you wonder how they can do all that in 12 months to stop the tazmanian devil being erased. but they have been fuc@ing about for 40 yrs or more trying to find a cure for the human disease to stop us being wiped out, and are still no nearer than the day they started!!!!!!! or are they..

one of lifes little mysterys folks. that, and fat people wearing lycra!!!!!!!!!

:clapper::clapper::clapper:

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HERES SOME INFO ON THEM FOR THOSE INTERESTED ATB

 

The Tasmanian devil is not particularly large. Adults may weigh about 15 pounds (6.8 kg), and be about 2 feet (60.96 cm) long. Birth weight, conversely is tiny. The average newborn devil is about the size of a grain of rice. The Tasmanian devil is usually dark black in color, though may have some markings of white around the neck. Their prominent noses give them an excellent sense of smell, which is ideal for hunting and tracking prey. Additionally, they are quite stocky in body, with powerful limbs and very sharp teeth.

 

The average life span of the Tasmanian devil is about 8 years. Only about 40% will survive to age one, possibly due in part to the fact that Tasmanian devil litters are huge. They can have up to 50 babies in one litter, but only four of the litter will survive. The new babies will struggle to reach the pouch and attach to on of the mother’s four teats. The attached babies will survive, and the rest are simply left to die. Like Kangaroos, the baby devil is called a joey.

 

Mothers care for the joeys for about 6 months before they are weaned and sent away from the mother’s habitat. Younger devils are more agile than their older counterparts, and are particularly adept at climbing trees. This can be the saving grace from their major predators, domestic dogs, and other adult Tasmanian devils.

 

Tasmanian devils are nocturnal hunters, and even those who dislike them, must agree that they perform an important function by keeping down the number of rats and mice in the area. They are closely related to the quoll, which also lives on Tasmania, but the quoll has a better reputation and is not considered quite so vicious. In fact the Tasmanian devil is not really vicious, but its growls and shrieks are somewhat disturbing, while the quoll hunts rather quietly, and so is often preferred.

 

The Tasmanian devil is called a gorge feeder as it consumes huge amounts of food at one sitting, and is known for eating virtually anything it comes across, no matter how old or rotten. Devils are sometimes called carnivorous vacuum cleaners because they tend to clear areas of skeletons, animal carcasses and garbage. In fact they prefer eating things easily obtained like dead animals, to hunting animals for themselves.

 

Since the Tasmanian devil does keep down rodent populations, they have been allowed to thrive and are now the representative animal for the Parks and Wildlife Services of Tasmania. Though the population is doing well, a new disease, called Devil Wasting Facial Disease, which has begun causing the deaths of young adult devils. Currently researchers are investigating the cause of this disease in hopes of its elimination so the Tasmanian devil will continue to thrive.

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People dont hunt tassie Devils as one: they are mean little suckers and two: bad news for dogs. They live in communal dens with a heap in there, a one or two dozen plus at times! If a dog goes in there the whole lot will fire up, they are generally shy and non combative and will just wander away but cornered or in their home den watch out. After a while most terriers and running dogs just ignore them. They are awesome to see at night feeding and you can see how they got the name devil, scary stuff tne hair on the back of your neck certainly stands up.

Cheers

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