Huge goanna climbs a family’s tent and tries to slash its way through the fly screen with its razor-sharp claws
- Margie Tehliwec was camping with her family in NSW when they spotted goanna
- The lizard tried to claw its way into another camper’s swag at the national park
- Ms Tehliwec said there were several goannas around the site and one chased her
- Goannas can be aggressive with humans and can bite, inflicting serious pain
A curious goanna has been caught on camera trying to claw its way through the fly screen of a tent at a national park camping site.
Margie Tehliwec was camping with her husband Garth, and her children, Braxton, eight, and Zara, six, at the Yuraygir National Park on New South Wales’ north coast earlier this month when they spotted three of the large lizards around the site.
One especially inquisitive goanna made its way onto another camper’s swag and can be seen in footage crawling over the netting and rubbing its nose along the sides.
A goanna was seen trying to claw its way through a swag at the Yuraygir National Park on New South Wales’ north coast
Margie Tehliwec was camping with her husband Garth, and her children, Braxton, eight, and Zara, six, at the Yuraygir National Park on New South Wales’ north coast earlier this month when they spotted three of the large lizards around the site
Ms Tehliwec said she and her family had been traveling around Australia for seven weeks and had decided to go ‘off grid’ for a few days and stop by the national park.
‘When we first got to our campsite we knew there was goannas around and there was one very big one chilling out on the picnic table to welcome us,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘But this guy we found was trying to get comfy with the swag. Of course we were very surprised to see this and the kids were squealing with excitement.’
The mother said they had initially feared the large lizard had made its way inside the tent.
‘We were concerned it was going to rip the swag apart!’ she said.
Ms Tehliwec said she and her family learnt pretty quickly not to walk near the goannas during their camp stay which they’ve shared footage of to their blog Expanda Life.
‘We found if we just ignored them they were fine. One time we walked towards one as it was near the entry to the toilets and it did chase myself and the kids,’ she said.
‘My husband thought it was hilarious that the kids and I got chased as he kept telling us not to go too close.’
The large lizard can be seen rubbing its nose along the fly netting as it crawled over the swag
Goannas can become aggressive towards humans if they feel threatened and can even bite, inflicting serious injuries.
An eight-year-old girl was bitten by a goanna after being attacked on South Stradbroke island in January, 2019.
Several people had to wrestle the lizard off her foot before she was then rushed to hospital with deep lacerations.
They have very long claws and can grow to over two metres long.
The toxic bacteria in their mouths can leave victims with prolonged bleeding and severe pain.
The family have been travelling around Australia for the last seven weeks
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