Girl Scouts swim away from charging alligator

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (KPRC) - A Texas Girl Scout group may need to add a new badge to their sashes: The ability to escape an alligator.

It happened as the Spring-area troop took an overnight camping trip to Huntsville State Park.

“This is an emergency here! The alligator, it’s in the water - what the (bleep),” someone says on phone video of the incident.

The emergency at the park’s swimming area caused panic and chaos just minutes after Girl Scout Troop 114204 jumped in.

“I was thinking, ‘This is the day I die,’” said Ava Miller with the troop.

The alligator was estimated to be 14 feet long. It swam right toward the troops.

“It was moving, like, faster than us or about the same,” Ava said.

The gator got closer as phone video shows Girl Scout Erin White jumping off the dock.

“I thought they were leaving me to go, so I jumped off and followed,” she said.

Chasing after her friends, she didn’t see the gator until troop leader Nichole Glenn helped her to safety.

“There was no doubt in my mind that that alligator was not going to try and eat somebody,” Glenn said.

Commotion filled the calm swimming zone. Glenn got between her troop and the gator, with her top priority to keep everyone safe.

“I always say that I love them to death,” she said. “I always say I would do anything for them. Now, I definitely know I would do anything for them.”

Everyone calmed down after a couple hours.

“Some of us were freaking out a little bit, because we just realized that an alligator was about to attack us,” Ava said.

The brave Scouts have mixed feelings on swimming in the lake again after the life-or-death experience with the gator they’ve named “Karen,” teaching them a simple, yet important life lesson early.

“I was close enough to get hurt, and I didn’t even know it was there,” Erin said. “So, I should probably focus on my surroundings more.”

After the alligator incident, Texas Parks and Wildlife shut the swimming area down for the rest of the day.

The state agency has removed nuisance alligators from this park in the past and is now evaluating if the same needs to be done this time.

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