A Tasmanian devil was given the fright of a lifetime after it was mistaken for a dog toy. Here's the video of them removing it from the house:
The poor creature somehow managed to get into a house in – you’ve guessed it – Tasmania, before it was forced to take evasive action and hide under the couch.
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Of course, the woman who discovered the small marsupial probably got a bit of a jump as well, although she did later concede that the animal - found predominantly on the Australian island - was quite cute.
I mean, look at it.
Speaking to ABC News, Kirsten Lynch explained how she was looking for the plush Tasmanian devil that her golden retriever likes to play with, when – to her complete surprise – it went scurrying off.
Rather than believing that she was in some sort of real Toy Story situation, she concluded that it must have been a real animal, rather than the toy.
Not before she shouted the house down and woke up her husband, though.
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“I went to reach for it, the devil shot underneath the couch,” she explained.
Lynch and her children then got up on the kitchen table while her husband shooed the creature out of the house with a broom.
She continued: “We were concerned that if she or he was cornered and scared they would bite someone.
So, at some stage, the family were standing on the dining table, which in itself was classically funny.
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“I got the fright of my life. But to be honest, I think the poor thing was more terrified of us.”
Sounds about right.
Tasmanian devils, contrary to what you might think, aren’t known for being particularly aggressive, in fact they are pretty timid.
However, if they are scared or trapped, they might have a go at biting you, so they were probably right to stay at a safe distance from it – particularly the kids.
They rarely enter people’s houses, but around this time of year it’s not unheard of, as juvenile devils will come into urban areas in search of food and water so that they can learn how to survive after they are no longer dependent on their parents.
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A sort of gap year for Tasmanian devils, if you will.
In this instance, there’s a happy ending, as the devil seemed fine as it left, and nobody in the house got bitten.
In the end, they’ve got a decent story to tell as well.
As for how the whole thing happened, Kirsten believes that the animal might have got in behind their puppy, Gecko.
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She concluded: “The devil got through the fence behind Gecko and walked in through the door that we leave open for her as she’s still potty training,
“It was very cute.”
Yes, yes it is.
Tom Wood