This familiar riddle plays with the word “bark.” Your first thought may be a dog because dogs bark and can bite, but the question asks for something that has a bark and no bite at all.
Answer: A tree.
The outer covering of a tree is called bark, but a tree obviously cannot bite. That double meaning is the entire trick behind the riddle.
It is a simple word puzzle, but it works because the phrase “bark but no bite” immediately makes many people think about an animal. Once you switch from the sound of a bark to the bark covering a tree trunk, the answer becomes clear.
