Being kind to Tasmania’s Devils

Tasmanian Devils are endangered marsupials found only on the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. Covered in black fur, Tasmanian Devils look very much like small bears, but they can be quite aggressive too. Quite like the Looney Tunes character “Tazz”, which spins around in a maniacal fashion, the real Tasmanian Devil can also fly into a rage when threatened, or when defending its food.

It is carnivorous, and has big, strong jaws, allowing it to sink its teeth into even a small kangaroo! However, they do not attack humans. They, in fact, help humans by acting as scavengers by eating away dead carcasses of animals and people.

Tasmanian devils became an endangered species with their kind being hunted indiscriminately for their meat, and also because they were considered a threat to livestock. Unfortunately, they are now threatened by an illness called Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a transmissible form of cancer that causes painful tumours around their mouth, making the Devils die of starvation.

It was a sunny day, but Jake hardly noticed the weather as he handed over a wad of notes to the real estate agent. It was the last installment he had to pay for the house he had bought in Blackstone Heights, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania. He had sold off his car, his business, and the posh two-storied villa he possessed in Canberra, the rich capital city of Australia, and moved to the tiny island of Tasmania.

He did not inform anyone where he was moving to; his friends and relatives were completely unaware of his whereabouts. “How do I get there?” Jake asked the agent. Jake had seen the property only once before, and didn’t have a car anymore.

“There’s a bus at 5’o’clock”, said the agent. “That’s the only bus that connects the place with the city.”
Jake nodded and looked away. The agent gazed at Jack in curiosity. What a strange young man! Buying a house in one of the loneliest areas of Tasmania! Jake didn’t look like a farmer or someone who lived a solitary life. On the contrary, he seemed to belong to the urban elite, with a personality and attitude that spelt sophistication and class.

“You sure you want to move there, Mister?” asked the agent. “It’s a very lonely place.”
Jake nodded again. “It does not matter”, he said, “In fact, that’s what I’m looking for.”
“In that case, you better buy whatever you need here in the city, before you go”, the agent warned. “There are no shops in Blackstone Heights!” The agent walked away.

Jake wondered what he had to buy. Or rather whom he should buy for, now that there was no one else staying with him. It was months since he had felt any appetite to eat; he ate as little as he could, just enough to keep him going. As Jake waited for the shopkeeper to pack the items he had bought, he thought how different it would have been if Nick had been there. Nick would first request, later beg and then pester him, till he bought him what he wanted.

“Come on, dad”, he would say. “Please, just this one time. Let me have that toy. Next time, I won’t even ask you. Honest.” Or it would be a plea for one of his numerous pets. “Carrots and lettuce, Dad”, he would say, “The rabbits are starving.”

Jake was never a strict father, so he would pretend to refuse Nick but in the end, buy him everything he asked for, laughing. “You little devil”, Jake would call Nick half-joking and half- lovingly. Now it seemed so empty, as if all that had happened a very long time ago. Or as if it hadn’t happened at all.

Jake got on the bus with his single suitcase and the bag of provisions. As the bus entered Blackstone Heights, Jake noticed that the agent had been right; there were no shops to be seen and hardly any people around.
It was late twilight when Jake found his new house. He set down his bags and tried to unlock the door.

But the key got jammed, and the door simply wouldn’t open. Jake cursed under his breath. He tugged and pulled, but to no avail. So engrossed was he that he didn’t hear a stranger biting through his plastic bag with the groceries and trying to get at the meat inside.

Jake finally got the door open. When he turned to take his bags, he was startled to find an animal standing there with the meat in its mouth. It was the size of a small dog, but with the face like a rat’s. It had black fur and white markings on its chest.

“Hey!” cried Jake in surprise. The little creature, instead of backing away, bared its teeth at Jake. Jake was surprised to see what powerful jaws it had. It snarled viciously and lunged at him. It seemed to be working itself into a rage! Jake was unafraid, but amazed. He had never seen an animal behave that crazy!

A gunshot pierced the air and the silence of the evening. This startled the ‘creature’, which immediately picked up the meat and shot off into the woods. Annoyed, Jake turned around to look who had fired the shot. “Hey neighbour”, the voice came from a man standing on the steps of another cottage nearby. “Don’t be alarmed; that was a Tasmanian Devil.”

Jake remembered what he had read about the Tasmanian Devils— so these cute, cuddly things were the endangered species? No wonder it’s endangered, he thought, with stupid people freely shooting at them for no reason.

“I wasn’t alarmed”, said Jake. “Why did you shoot?”
“Why wouldn’t I shoot? Devils are nasty pests! I wouldn’t let one anywhere near my property!”
The man’s words seemed to drive a dagger through Jake’s heart. He thought of how his friend Ben had once described Nick as a ‘pest’. “I don’t see why you like kids so much, Jake”, he had remarked. “I can’t stand them.”

It had happened an hour before the ‘accident’. Ben had just ticked off Nick for getting in their way while they were setting up a trap for hunting foxes. Jake was sorry he couldn’t console his son, because Ben happened to be his business partner as well, and he couldn’t afford to offend him.

“Right”, shouted Ben, once they had decided on their positions. “Now for the whistle!” Jake blew a ‘fox-whistle’— a high-pitched sound emerged, like a cry of a distressed rabbit. It was to attract a fox to the place, at which they would then shoot.

Sure enough, in a while, they could see swift movement in the bushes. It looked like a fox was rushing to the spot. Ben took careful aim, and fired a shot. A sharp cry was heard. “Dad!” Jake was shocked. It was Nick! Nick must have thought it was a real rabbit and come running!

It all happened too quickly after that. Jake was hardly in his senses as he gathered a bleeding Nick into his arms. He couldn’t remember any of the details now; all he knew was that his little ‘devil’ had died in his arms.
Jake now began to live the ‘solitary life’ that he had wanted. His neighbours tried to visit him and make polite conversation, but Jake refused to co-operate. He remained aloof.

The only visitor whom Jake welcomed turned out to be the Tasmanian Devil. The second time Jake saw it; he went closer, and tried to drive it away with a “Shoo! Go away!” But instead of running away, the animal merely yawned! Jake was amused, and kept throwing bits of food around to feed it.

The devil, too, seemed to have taken a fancy to Jake, and would skulk around the garden in the evenings, even as Jake stretched out on an easy chair outside. As time passed, Jake seemed to have found solace in the antics of the Tasmanian devil.

He stopped obsessing over Nick’s death, and instead looked forward to the Devil’s visits. The neighbor, however, wasn’t very happy with the development. “You let that creature into your land, and one day it’s going to come over to mine, and kill my fowl”, he said. “If you don’t kill it, I’ll do it myself!”

“Build a stronger hen coop for your hens”, retorted Nick calmly. “I’m not killing it, ever. And don’t you dare do it, either.” The Tasmanian Devil had by now grown so familiar with Jake that it didn’t hesitate to enter the house and chew on his shoes. Just like he had laughed at Nick’s mischief, Jake laughed now too. He didn’t mind anything the Devil did. It was as though it had filled a deep void in his life.

One evening, Jake stepped out into the garden, with a piece of fish he held tantalizingly for the Devil. “Come here, Devil!” he called, and the little creature came bounding up. Just as it was a foot away from him, a gunshot sounded. The Devil rolled over, twitching in pain. Jake rushed to it and held it, his heart beating wildly as it had done long ago. “Ha! There goes your little devil!” sneered the neighbour, as the Devil died in Jake’s arms.