Tasmanian Devil and Wombat

Wombat in Shrubland

The Wambat is a small marsupial mammal that lives in forested and heathland (shrubland) parts of Australia.  It is an herbivore.  There are two speices of Wombat but there are 5 subspecies within the two species.  Wombats are about 1 meter long or 40 inches long.  They weigh between 25 and 40 kg.  That is the weight of the common Wombat.  The Hairy-Nosed Wombat is slightly smaller.  Wombats are the world's largest burrowing mammal. 

Wombats eat practically anything.  Roots, leaves of herbs and trees, grass, sedges and even tree bark.  They are an animal with a very slow digestion  They take around 14 days to digest their food.  They are generally slow walking but they can run fast for a minute and a half at up to 40 kph or 25 mph. 
They probalby mostly run like that when they are fleeing a predator, like the Tasmanian Devil or the Dingo.

Wambats will flee to their hole or den or burrow and stick their butt blocking the tunnel.  Their bum skin is very tough and hard to bite through.  So a pursuing predator has little chance of biting through.  The Wombat will also kick at the predator and can sometimes crush the predator's head into the wall of the tunnel.  Remember that Womabts would only be fleeing from a Tasmanian Devil if they were the Wambats that lived in Tasmania.  There ARE Wombats in Tasmania. 

Tasmanian Devil

Speaking of Tasmania.  .  .  The Tasmanian Devil once lived in Australia.  It now lives only on the nearby island of Tasmania.  They have the most powerful bite for their size of any animal on Earth.  They are carnivores and hunt wallabies and other small animals.  Their closest relative is the now exticnt Marsupial Lion.  So now Tasmanian Devils are the biggest carnivorous marsupial.

Tasmanian Devils live basically solitary lives, but they will sometimes share a kill but it is a grumpy sharing with the different individuals snapping at each other etc.  Tasmanian Devils can also make a sort of cross between a scream and a roar.  It sounds really scary.  It makes me think of a young cougar.

Tasmanian Devils have a pouch because they are marsupials.  The young are called Joeys or the more clever...imps.  A breeding mother Tasmanian Devil can produce around 50 babies that are very tiny.  In fact, at birth, the imps are only about the size of a grain of rice.  Only 4 imps ever manage to make it to the teats to begin to suckle.  The other 46 babies die and since they are devils I guess they go to hell.  (That was a joke.)