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A Girl Scouts troop on a camping trip to Huntsville State Park in Texas were caught off guard when their trip was plunged into chaos as an estimated 14-foot alligator swam toward them while everyone was in the water.
Cellphone footage captured the massive alligator moving ominously toward the Girl Scouts troop who were swimming on a platform in the lake just outside of the buoys. Adults rushed into the water to get the girls out of harm’s way as quickly as possible. Oddly, all of that tumult didn’t scare off the massive alligator as is continued to swim closer and closer.
It is beyond eerie to hear an 11-year-old Girl Scout saying “I was thinking, this is the day I die. It was moving faster than us or about the same.” The adults deserve credit for spotting the alligator and moving as fast as humanly possible to get everyone out of the water before an incident occurred.
Troop leader Nichole Glenn later said “There was no doubt in my mind that that alligator was not going to try and eat somebody. I always say that I love them to death. I always say I would do anything for them. Now, I definitely know I would do anything for them.”
@fox26houston WATCH: A large alligator was caught on camera swimming towards a group of kids playing in a lake at Huntsville State Park in Texas. Video shared by David Siljeg shows the reptile slowly moving towards the children as they scream and quickly exit the water with help from nearby adults. Later, the animal is seen hanging out close to the edge of the lake. Witnesses say they believe the gator was around 12-feet long. #fox26houston #houston #huntsvillestatepark #alligator #huntsvilletx
Huntsville State Park in Texas is about an hour north of Houston. It is worth noting that while alligators are spotted around the lake, it is not an area that is particularly known for alligators like some other lakes closer to Houston and to the East.
In the KPRC 2 Click2Houston news footage above, they mention the alligator was estimated at 14 feet long. That would almost be a state record in Texas where the largest alligator ever captured measured 14’3″.
Alligator attacks on humans are extremely rare and even rare in Texas. There have only been three recorded fatal attacks on humans by alligators in Texas and only one of them occurred this century (2015). The other two occurred in 1836 and in 1685!
With that said, always get out of the water when swimming if an alligator is spotted. And when swimming in an area alligators are known to inhabit, exercise extreme caution. There is absolutely no reason to risk personal safety when alligators are around.
It has been a BIG Summer for alligators. Just last week, the second-heaviest gator ever captured in Florida was weighed.
That alligator tipped the scales at 920-pounds, 13-feet.