THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS— ZEBRA-WOLI-. 



589' 



their raids they go to the sea beach and devour all 

 animals cast ashore, both fresh and putrid. Those 

 that live on trees subsist mainly on insects, their 

 largest prey being small mammals, and birds and 

 their eggs. The largest species may occasionally 

 visit human habitations and kill all the poultry of a 

 coop in one night; after the fashion of Martens, or 

 like the impudent Foxes of the north, they despoil 

 granaries and larders, stealing meat and bacon. The 

 smaller species are able to squeeze through the 

 smallest apertures, and render themselves as de- 

 tested as Martens and Polecats; the largest of them 

 attack flocks of Sheep and occasionally make off 

 with a victim. Many take their food up to their 

 mouths in their forepaws. Their vocal expression 

 consists of a peculiar growl and a yelping bark. 

 The larger species are very savage, untamable and 

 addicted to biting, and defend themselves furiously 

 with their sharp teeth, when attacked, while the 

 smaller ones seem gentle and good-natured. Some 

 may be easily kept in confinement, and tamed with- 

 out great trouble, but never 

 show any signs of affection 

 for their keepers. The fe- 

 males give birth to four or 

 five young in spring. 



The harm inflicted by the 

 members of this sub-family 

 far outweighs the profit de- 

 rived from them, and justi- 

 fies persistent pursuit. 



THE ZEBRA. WOLF. 



The Zebra- wolf or 

 Pouched Dog ( Thylacinus 

 cynocepluilus), the only liv- 

 ing representative of a dis- 

 tinct genus, did not come 

 by its name wrongfully, for 

 it really resembles a wild 

 Dog. Its elongated body, 

 the shape of the head, the 

 strong demarcation of the 

 snout, the erect ears, the 

 eyes, the tail, which is car- 

 ried extended straight be- 

 hind, all are similar to the 



corresponding members of the Dog; the limbs are 

 proportionately short, however, and the dentition 

 differs markedly from that of the Dog. 



The Pouched Dog is the largest of all carnivorous 

 Pouched Animals. Its body is over forty inches 

 long, the tail measures twenty inches and old males 

 are said to become still larger, measuring in all about 

 six feet four inches. The fur is close and loose, of 

 gray-brown hue and marked with twelve or fourteen 

 black transverse stripes on the back. 

 Habitat and Habits The Pouched Dog is a native of 



of the Pouched Tasmania. In the first period of 

 Do 9- European settlements it was very 



common, to the great detriment and vexation of the 

 cattle breeders, to whose sheep-folds and poultry- 

 yards it paid frequent visits. Later, however, fire- 

 arms caused it to retreat more and more, and it is 

 now restricted to the interior, where it still exists in 

 considerable numbers in mountainous districts, being 

 most frequently found at an altitude of about three 

 thousand feet above the sea level. During the day 

 it seeks refuge in clefts of rock in dark, deep 

 gulches, nearly inaccessible to Man, or in natural re- 

 treats, or deep burrows which it digs for itself, and 



from which it undertakes its raids. It is a nocturnal 

 animal and to a great extent shuns light. Even if it 

 is not the most savage of all predaceous Pouched 

 Animals, it still exceeds all its family relations in 

 strength and courage and deserves its name for this 

 reason also. 



The food of the Zebra-wolf consists of all smaller 

 animals that it can subdue, vertebrates or inverte- 

 brates, from insects and mollusks to domestic ani- 

 mals. When it is especially hungry, it despises no 

 kind of food and is not even frightened by the sharp, 

 spinous weapons of the Echidna. When the animal 

 extends its raids to the settlements, it is caught in 

 traps or hunted with Dogs. It knows how to take 

 care of itself in an encounter with the latter and dis- 

 plays a savage disposition. 



THE TASMANIAN DEVIL. 



The nearest relative of the Pouched Dog, the Tas- 

 manian Devil (Sarcophilus ursinus), is very much 

 uglier, and is repulsive and filthy in the highest de- 



■^^tJSSlISS^ 



LONG-NOSED BANDICOOT. This peculiar animal with ears like a Rabbit, muzzle like a Shrew, tail 



like a Rat and hind quarters like a Kangaroo, is also distinguished by the queer elongation of two or three toes 



(/>« 



ch foot, especially tin 

 melcs nasitta.) 



ddle toe of the hind foot. It belongs to the suborder of Carnivorous Marsupials. 



gree; it also forms a distinct genus. The animal 

 obtained its significant name through its ineradica- 

 bly savage and untamable disposition. All observ- 

 ers agree in saying that it is difficult to conceive 

 of a more disagreeable, raving, frantic, furious crea- 

 ture than this pouched Devil, whose ill humor and 

 vexation are never spent, and whose blood is aroused 

 at the slightest provocation. Not even in confine- 

 ment, with the most careful treatment, does it lose 

 these qualities. It never learns to know or like 

 the person who provides it with food and takes care 

 of it, but attacks its keeper with the same senseless 

 fury and ferocity which it shows towards any other 

 person who dares approach it. 



The fur consists of short, wiry hair. The chest 



and neck are marked with a white collar and usually 



with two white spots; the remainder of the body is 



clothed in a coal-black fur. The total length of the 



animal is about forty inches, twelve inches of which 



are occupied by the tail. 



Destructiueness In the early days of the colony the 



of the Tasma- Tasmanian Devil gave the settlers a 



nian Devil. great deal of trouble, and came near 



spoiling their poultry-breeding. After the manner 



