156 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
parts and used their fore paws to convey food to their mouths. 
The muscles of the jaws were very strong, as they cracked the 
largest bones with ease asunder.” 
Exclusively carnivorous in their habits, these animals, de- 
spite their comparatively small size, commit great havoc among 
the sheepfolds of the settlers, and are stated to be so ferocious 
and to bite with such severity that one of them is fully a match 
for any ordinary Dog. It is a curious comment on the present 
state of zoological knowledge that naturalists are still un- 
acquainted with the number of teats in the Tasmanian Devil. 
Since, however, the female is stated to produce from three to 
five young ones at a birth it is probable that there are six teats. 
Beyond this statement as to the number of the young, nothing 
seems to have been ascertained with regard to the breeding 
habits of these creatures. Like many of its kindred, the Tas- 
manian Devil is a burrowing and nocturnal animal. In size it 
may be compared to a Badger, and owing to its short limbs, 
plantigrade feet, and short muzzle, its gait and general appear- 
ance are very Badger- or Bear-like. 
In order to afford some further notion of the ferocity of 
these animals, we may quote the following passage from Krefft:. 
“ One of them, and by no means a large one, escaped not long 
ago, and killed in two nights fifty-four Fowls, six Geese, an 
Albatross anda Cat. Having been recaptured in what was con- 
sidered a stout trap, with a door constructed of iron bars as 
thick as a lead-pencil, he made his escape by twisting this solid 
obstacle aside, almost doubling it up with his powerful teeth, : 
To give some idea of the strength of the animal, we mention 
tuat the blacksmith who repaired the trap could not bend the 
bars back into their position without proper tools. When ' 
caught in a Fox-trap, the black Dasyure often bites off the’ 
fastened limb and escapes. A specimen in the Museum collec-’ 
tion, the largest ever secured, had oniy three legs, one of the’ 
