Blue Tongue Lizards - they bite?

The blue tongue's main defense strategy is bluff: It faces the threat and opens its mouth. The blue tongue inside the pink mouth is an unexpected and vivid sight, designed to frighten off the attacker. The lizard also hisses loudly and flattens its body which makes it look wider and bigger. If you pick the lizard up now it will bite you. And it will hurt. Blue tongues have a habit of latching onto your finger and not letting go, which leaves you with a nice bruise.
But in most cases, biting Humans doesn't seem to cross their minds. Blue tongue lizards quickly become used to humans. (That's one reason why they are so popular as pets.) But even if they've never seen any humans before they are likely to just sit there and let you pick them up when you see one. There are six species of blue-tongued lizards or skinks in Australia. They vary a bit in colour and size, but most commonly they are grey with broad brown stripes across their back and tail, and they grow to around a foot in length (that's just the head and body, not the tail).

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[iluvcynder]

You should have had your dog in full plate mail before letting it go near a lizard, people these days...

[whitehorse1959]

@iluvcynder - What dog? What is "full plate mail"? These lizards are wild and roam wherever they want to. We have two cats, and both of them won't take any interest in these blue-tongues. I'm not sure what drugs you are taking, but get me a six-pack will you? lol

[jewelbenn]

I wish I lived in a place where blueys just ran wild and free...

[hydranoid800]

Seriously those things can hurt it bit me and chopped my finger off even a common garden skink bit my finger nail off those damn things

[SireniTori]

@818arthur snakes would be understandable, but these lizards are actually harmless. if you left it alone it would leave, no need to kill a native animal.

[lovethebeatbox]

@818arthur its harmless lol.

[818arthur]

snake with hands and legs, if i saw that thing in my garage i would kill it in a heartbeat.

[DawgMagnet]

@fluffeesh No, the tail thing is only with Shinglebacks -- this guy has obviously dropped his tail, and when these guys do, their tails grow back all stubby.

[fluffeesh]

Their tails are meant to look like that so birds flying above may think it's their head.

Great vid, those things give a nasty bite though and that shit gets all infected, I had to put my dog down because of one.