Diet

This morning my little brother asked, "Do Tasmanian Devils eat zebras?"  Well, if they lived in Tanzania, I'm sure they would but he had his countries mixed up and I don't think a Tassie Devil would ever come across a zebra in Tasmania.                   

His question got me thinking and so I looked on the internet and found out that Tasmanian Devils aren't fussy eaters!  They will eat anything they can sink their teeth into and they have really powerful jaws and teeth so they eat the WHOLE animal - bones, fur and all!  They are usually scavengers, which means they prefer to find something dead to eat but they can also hunt other animals for fresh meat. Although they can't run fast, they can run for an hour at full speed (13km/hr) and when their prey tires they can attack.  Some of the animals they have been known to eat are wallabies, echindas, platypus, wombats, possums, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and even sea squirts (a creature that is attached to the ocean floor and feeds on plankton)!  They have been described as a 'living vacuum cleaner' because they clean up all the dead animals from the bush.

The wombat is probably their favourite food and this is possibly because they are so fat and so they get a lot of calories from eating them.  I guess it could be because they taste good too - although I think I would prefer to munch on a lolly pop!

Dead sheep and cows are also a good find for the Tassie Devils - although they only eat the mouth, udder and anus (GROSS!!!) of the cow as the skin is too tough for them.  Small and sick farm animals are in danger of becoming prey as the Tasmanian Devil will use their weaknesses for their own advantage.  They also enjoy eating chickens and eggs that they find on farms.

Tassie Devils are well known for their rough shoving, pushing and their screeches when feeding on a corpse - all they are trying to do is show how big, tough and strong they can be so they can be the "Top Devil".   
 

Tassie Devils eat a lot!!  Usually they eat 10-15% of their body weight per day and even more if they are hungry enough.  They have been known to eat up to 40% of their body weight in just 30 minutes!!!