Frilled-neck lizard tries intimidation tactics on Australian man

FITZROY CROSSING, Australia, June 2 (UPI) -- An Australian man who encountered a frilled-neck lizard on a dirt road attempted to usher it off of the roadway but instead caught the irritable reptile's ire.

Ricky Mackenzie, 18, an aspiring wildlife photographer, said he was exploring about 60 miles northwest of Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia when he saw the small lizard in the middle of a dirt road.

Mackenzie instead found himself targeted by the territorial lizard, which puffed out its neck, chased the human and climbed on his leg.

"I see a lot of frillies. I didn't want this one to get run over. I tried to help but he didn't want a bar of it," Mackenzie said. "It climbed right up my body. I had to pull it off and it then ran away."

All things considered, the encounter could have gone worse.