What the devil?

A couple of months back, right in the middle of winter, the dogs were out after dark, which isn't normal.

Also not normal was Molly, barking up a storm right in front of the house. She was incessant.

So, being a grumpy ol' lady at times, I went stomping out into the cold and frost (oooh boy was it cold!) to see what the heck was happing. And seeing as it was dark and I live somewhere near the outskirts of Nowhere, I couldn't see a thing.

Back inside, find a spotlight and extension cord, and try again. This time when I went out, I heard a sound that I've never heard before and hope never to hear again. It was a loud, hissy, growly, snarly sort of sound, and it sent every hair on the back of my neck up. Now, I don't scare easily, but this thing was eerie.

I flashed the light around, but couldn't see anything. I did find a burrow (!) under the pile of renovation cast-offs near the fence, which is where Molly was directing the barking. I poked around some more, and That Sound started up again.

Eventually I managed to get hold of Molly, and get her back into the house (about blimmin' time too, I had the shivers from the combination of the cold and That Sound...).

The next day I contacted one of the local wildlife sanctuaries, to see if they firstly knew what I had in the garden, and secondly if they could very kindly remove it please, thank you very much.

After a chat and a description of That Sound, combined with the burrow and the nocturnal presence, the lovely lady I spoke to told me I most likely had a devil in my garden. Yup, a wild Tasmanian Devil! Unfortunately she said they cannot remove it unless it is sick or injured, so just let him be and he'll probably wander off within a few weeks anyway, because they don't like being around people and dogs.



This is a Devil. Cute, until they open their mouth!



Check out those teeth!

Poor little guys are endangered nowadays because of the deadly Facial Tumour Disease, so I feel very privileged to have this wee chappy camping out in my yard for a bit.

Alas, it seems he's moved on. No more Sounds in the night, and no sign of him anywhere. Farewell, little Devil, I hope you have a long and happy life.