He got lucky

Lake Charlotte is basically a Louisiana swamp located on the banks of the Trinity River. Why on Earth they would want to swim there is beyond me. I never liked being out there in a boat

That's about 10 minutes from my house. They're idiots for swimming there.

Calling Meaux92. Headcount time.

Even Meaux knows better than to step a toe in that lake. Not saying he would never jump in the water after a gator or anything

More gators in Chambers County than there are people... Would not be my first choice for swimming

I had always likened swimming where there are gators to swimming where there are sharks. There are certainly sharks at the beach when I go swimming, but I don't really worry about them. Is swimming in water with gators in it more of a concern?

Aren't their alligators in practically every Texas lake/river? I used to swim/waterski in the San Bernard all the time growing up. We also used to swim in a creek behind my house that was loaded with gators and moccasins.

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Aren't their alligators in practically every Texas lake/river? I used to swim/waterski in the San Bernard all the time growing up. We also used to swim in a creek behind my house that was loaded with gators and moccasins.

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I don't think there are gators in every water system, no. I've never seen one in Northeast Texas. Not that I go noodling or anything up in East Texas, but I've only seen them around Houston / Beaumont.

There are pockets of them all along the Trinity, all the way up into the DFW area. With all the water recently, they have been popping up in interesting locations, like near downtown Fort Worth over the weekend.

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No gators in NE Texas? You've never been on Caddo Lake.

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True. They're there. I reckon I just haven't seen them in my neck.

Choke canyon is full of them. When the creeks still flowed here in Beeville one heard tales of them in the Medio and Poesta creeks.

Yes, gators are in just about every water body in Texas.

And the vast majority of the time, gators will not mess with people. We are not on their menu, with very rare exceptions - much like sharks in the oceans or bays.

Either the dude just got unlucky or he did something to make the gator aggressive.

Purely speculation, but guessing there is a nest nearby.

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Purely speculation, but guessing there is a nest nearby.

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Highly likely. This is the right time of the year, and the flooding has pushed many out of normal nesting areas.

I used to bass fish in lake Charlotte when I was a kid. Mac slough was not open to the sulfur cut back then but you could always catch a few bass in there. Lake Charlotte is really shallow for the most part so I can't imagine swimming in there. There was some outstanding fishing in lake miller at certain times with high water. I've had several trips catching 40-50 bass a trip when the water was up. And yes I can't imagine swimming out there. Lots of alligators. It kept me on my toes dragging the john boat up the creek into lake miller. The good old days!

Are there gators in Lake Meredith ??

I've been wakeboarding bayous in southeast Texas my whole life. I was once told that there has never been a recorded alligator attack in Texas (except for those in captivity). I never bothered trying to verify that information, but it's what I've always told the girls we bring in the boat that have concerns. Even if it's not true, it tends to make them worry less.

We also have a rule that if someone is in the water and a gator is spotted nearby, you DO NOT tell the person in the water. They tend to freak out if they know (especially the girls) and there really isn't anything they can do about it. We just bring them the rope and get them back on the board, then tell them how close they were after they are back in the boat.

Not that there are a lot of gators in the DFW area (every area lake has a couple, just a couple are more noted--Eagle Mountain, Worth, Lewisville), as you move north and west they peter out real quick. Granted, a huge alligator was killed near Jacksboro I want to say in 2011 or 12.

Prior to this incident---there have been 15 known alligator related injuries in Texas, and all involved handling in some manner.----Don't have a link or easy citation, it was a number I heard repeated several times when I was going through some alligator training several years ago.

A 7 footer was found in a small lake in Sherman back in 2009.

I was driving back from Louisiana to Houston a couple of weeks ago and there was a dead alligator on the inside shoulder of IH 10 at the Trinity River. It appeared that it was trying to get out of the flood waters and got run over on IH 10. It was definitely not something you see every day.

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I've been wakeboarding bayous in southeast Texas my whole life.

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Same here. Taylors and Hillebrandt.

Fork has got a bunch, that's where I'm from. There still down here by the droves on the San Bernard as well.

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I was driving back from Louisiana to Houston a couple of weeks ago and there was a dead alligator on the inside shoulder of IH 10 at the Trinity River. It appeared that it was trying to get out of the flood waters and got run over on IH 10. It was definitely not something you see every day.

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I went and played the Chambers Co Golf Course on Saturday, and saw what must have been a 6-7 ft dead gator on the shoulder at the Old/Lost River bridge. I thought it was a hog or something until I got right up beside it.

We have them all over the place down here. Even out in Christmas Bay at times.

My neighbor swears an eight footer walked across my yard a xouple of weeks ago. I could not find any sign of one, but it would not surprise me either (though I would doubt an 8 footer personally).

I never saw one in the San Bernard or Bastrop Bayou when playing while a horny teenager (would definitely have used that to my advantage...), but I have no doubt they are there.

Bottom line - you have to put yourself intentionally, and usually at great effort, in a position to get attacked by a standard alligator.

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I was driving back from Louisiana to Houston a couple of weeks ago and there was a dead alligator on the inside shoulder of IH 10 at the Trinity River. It appeared that it was trying to get out of the flood waters and got run over on IH 10. It was definitely not something you see every day.

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I went and played the Chambers Co Golf Course on Saturday, and saw what must have been a 6-7 ft dead gator on the shoulder at the Old/Lost River bridge. I thought it was a hog or something until I got right up beside it.

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Same place I saw it. West bound on June 16th. I can't imagine it was the same one that has been there for two weeks, but maybe.

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I never saw one in the San Bernard or Bastrop Bayou when playing while a horny teenager (would definitely have used that to my advantage...)

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I grew up on Lake Livingston and we saw gators all the time. Never thought twice about getting in the water (other than caney creek, something creepy about that one). I guess we never heard of attacks so we never considered it.

I have seen quite a few in Harmon Creek also. Definitely wouldn't be my first choice of a swimming hole.

I saw a big one in Buck Bay on Sam Rayburn back in April. He was paddling right down the middle of the bay like he owned it bellowing as he went. He was looking for love in all the wrong places.

Local news reported that they were fishing and he got in the water to cool off on a hot day. So they didn't go there to swim it sounded like, but he did get in. If they were using live bait or catching any fish that could have attracted a gator.