A man approaches an innocent-looking lizard on the side of the road, musing in French that it might be playing dead. Then, the unassuming animal unfurls its frilled neck and starts running at the man, who is filming, on two legs, with its mouth wide open. The lizard looks like a creature straight out of a Jurassic Park movie, but don’t worry folks, it’s just Australia. In fact, the animal is a frilled lizard, and its bark is worse than its bite. The video racked up several million views online in the past week, because the lizard not only runs at the man but also climbs him.
Enzo Semaskovish is the man in question, and he seems to like these creatures and the shock value they produce online amongst his followers. He’s shared several encounters with these unique Australian lizards, but this video is perhaps the best one. The footage shows the lizard climbing up his body, and then he appears to hand his phone to a friend, who continues filming once the lizard is up on Semaskovish’s bare back.
Semaskovish and his companion don’t seem intimidated, despite all the lizard’s valiant efforts and intimidation tactics. Many commenters can’t believe the men were so calm in the face of the lizard’s appearance and behavior, which is admittedly pretty freaky if you’ve never seen it before.
See a frilled lizard climb a man in Australia here: