Tasmanian Devil found in Huon Valley after father wakes up to scratching noise

A father has filmed the moment he freed a Tasmanian Devil after the animal became stuck on his verandah late at night.

Dan Witts, 43, and his family were sound asleep at their Huon Valley home, in southern Tasmania, on February 7.

Mr Witts said he was woken up to the sound of scratching coming from outside, and got out of bed to investigate, armed with only his phone.

He followed the noise to an empty plant pot in the corner of the verandah.

Mr Witts slowly pulled the pot out of the corner where he found the Tasmanian Devil wedged between the railing and floorboards.  

‘On inspection, I could see that he was stuck under the railing with quite a drop off the deck behind him,’ he said.

Mr Witts tried to safely grab the Tasmanian Devil by the back of the neck, to help wedge it free.

The frightened animal tried to bite him a few times before it finally relented.

Mr Witts pulled the animal free before setting down on his front lawn, allowing it to run away.  

The father posted a video of his late night adventure to Facebook where social media users were quick to praise him.

‘He nearly had your fingers, but well done,’ one person commented.

Tasmanian Devils can only be found in Tasmania, after the marsupial went extinct on mainland Australia around 3,000 years ago.

Although Tasmanian Devils do not naturally attack people, they will defend themselves if they are attacked or feel threatened.

They have the most powerful jaw bite of any animal, proportional to their size.

The average strength of a human bite is 162 pounds per square inch, while the Tasmanian Devil’s is 1,200.