Watch A Giant Lizard Use Its Tail To Slap A Harassing Dog Straight In The Face

Want to see a video of a monitor lizard’s method for controlling excessive dog barking? These two dogs are highly suspicious of the huge reptile and are making this known in a very loud way. The lizard, meanwhile, is clearly feeling threatened – especially by the white dog that is closest to it. So, it lashes out with its powerful tail and lands a slap on the canine’s face. This sends the poor pooch back into the undergrowth with a yelp! As the video below shows, dogs and monitor lizards are not always the best of friends.

Check Out This Video to See the Dog Feel The Wrath of the Lizard’s Tail

Why Do Dogs Bark Like This?

A monitor lizard may have more in common with the domestic dog than it would care to admit! Despite their less-than-cuddly appearance, monitor lizards can make surprisingly good pets and human companions. Like dogs, they are intelligent, often seek out human company, and even like to play games!

Dogs have been used by humans for hunting, agriculture, protection, and companionship for thousands of years. You can clearly hear both dogs in this clip barking loudly but what does that mean? Barking is a type of vocal communication used by dogs. Dogs have a number of different barks but this one sounds like an ‘alert’ bark. Dogs often use a series of deep barks, with a few breaks, to let others know that there is a threat.

These dogs have come across the giant lizard and are warning everyone else about it. Dogs will also bark from loneliness, boredom, or as a greeting but that is a different type of bark and is accompanied by very different body language.

Is This Normal Behavior For A Monitor Lizard

Monitor lizards are considered to be amongst the most intelligent reptiles on Earth. They are native species of Africa, Asia, and Oceania but are found all over the world as pets. The larger lizards have few predators. Nevertheless, they have still developed a few useful defense behaviors.

Some will actually play dead – including leaving their eyes wide open. But that only works with predators that are not prepared to eat a dead lizard! Others attempt to escape or puff out their lungs to make them look as large as possible – some can quadruple the volume of their body by doing this.

The only physical contact they will indulge in is a ‘slap’ from their powerful tail and as this dog will tell you, it really hurts!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Ruben PH/Shutterstock.com