388 THE TASMANIAN DEVIL. 



have always found it to be equally savage and intractable. Without the least cause it would 

 fly at the bars of its cage, and endeavor by dint of teeth and claws to wreak its vengeance on 

 me, while it gave vent to its passionate feelings in short, hoarse screams of rage. There was 

 no reason for these outbursts of anger, for the animal behaved in precisely the same manner 

 whenever any visitor happened to pause in front of its domicile. 



It is a very conspicuous animal, and not easily to be mistaken for any other species. The 

 coat of the Tasmanian Devil is very appropriately black, dashed here and there with spots, 

 patches, or stripes of a pure white, which afford a bold and singular contrast to each other. 

 In different individuals there is considerable variety in the distribution of these two colors, 

 but the character of the markings is similar in all. 



The general hue of the fur is a deep, dead black, the fur being devoid of that rich, silky 

 glossiness which gives to the coats of many black animals so pleasing an effect. Across the 

 breast there is nearly always a very conspicuous white mark, which in some individuals takes 

 the form of a semilunar band, and in others is contracted to a mere spot. Generally, another 

 white mark is found to extend saddle wise across "the end of the spine, just before the insertion 

 of the tail. This mark is also susceptible of great variation, being of considerable dimensions 

 in some specimens, and extremely small in others. Now and then a white streak or patch is 

 seen upon the shoulders, but in many individuals the shoulders are of equal blackness with 

 the remainder of the body. Behind the eyes is a tuft of very long hairs, and another similar 

 tuft is placed immediately above them. 



As might be presumed from the heavy make of its body, and the thickset shortness of its 

 limbs, the animal is not at all brisk or lively in its movements, and seldom displays much 

 energy except when under the influence of the easily-excited irascibility for which it is so 

 widely renowned. The head is short and thickly made, the muzzle very blunt, and the 

 mouth wide. The gait of the animal is plantigrade, ajid its movements are in general dull 

 and sluggish. 



The length of this animal is about twenty-one inches, exclusive of the tail, which measures 

 about seven inches in length, and is moderately well covered with far. 



Despite its comparatively small size, this creature is hardly less destructive than the Tas- 

 manian wolf, and in the earlier days of the colonists wrought sad havoc among the sheep and 

 poultry, especially among the latter. In those days it swarmed in great numbers, but it is 

 now nearly extirpated out of some districts, and is so persecuted by the righteous vengeance of 

 the farmers, that a solitary specimen can scarcely now be seen in the locality where its nightly 

 visits used to be of continual occurrence. Many of these depredators were shot, caught in 

 traps, or otherwise destroyed, and suffered a poetical justice in furnishing a meal for those at 

 whose expense they had often feasted. 



The flesh of this rather ungainly animal is said to be far from unpleasant, and to have 

 some resemblance to veal. 



The traps in which these nocturnal robbers are caught are baited with flesh of some 

 kind, generally with butcher's offal, for the animal is a very voracious one, and is always sen- 

 sitive to such attractions. Like the Tasmanian wolf— to which animal it is closely allied— it 

 is in the habit of prowling along the sea-shore in search of the ordinary coast-loving mollusks 

 and crustaceans, or in hopes of making a more generous feast on the dead carcases which the 

 tides will sometimes leave upon the beach. 



In captivity it will eat almost any kind of food, and is found to thrive well upon bread 

 and milk, with an occasional addition of flesh. When it is indulged in the latter delicacy, it 

 speedily tears in pieces the meat with which it is furnished, and is in nowise baffled by the 

 presence of moderately sized bones, which it can crack with wonderful ease by means of its 

 strong teeth and powerful jaws. 



The great power of its jaws, backed by its unreasoning ferocity, which seems to be liter- 

 ally incapable of comprehending the feeling of fear, renders it extremely formidable when 

 attacked. Indeed, there are hardly any dogs, however strong and well trained they may be, 

 which can boast of a victory gained over a Tasmanian Devil in single fight. 



It is rather a productive animal, the number of its family being from four to five at a 



