goujon is right about people feeding them thats a big no no makes them unafaid of humans and associates them with food i know this because i was fishing at night in the summer time in a 500 acre sand pit i was throwing a black spinner bait while i listened to a ballgame on a head set and i was just easing around this sand pit in a 12 foot jon boat well the ball game finished and i decided to throw a top water so i took the headphone off my ears made a cast waiting for that big explosion when i heard something disturbing the water behind me mind you this was about 11:30 at night i turn and what do i see a gator thats about 12 to 14foot long just 2 feet from me i almost crapped my pants it was his tail just swishing back and forth making the noise i have no idea how long he had been there but i tell you it still bothers me today seeing that big head just a few feet from i kicked trolling motor on high and took off he followed for about 50 yds and i guess decided heck with it ... now i knew that big gator lived there everyone had seen him but what i didnt know was the old man who owned the sand pit nephew had started feeding that gator i found that out the next day when i went back and to warn the nephew who lived there on the property about that gator to watch his self he started laughing and said aw thats old dino hell he just wanted something to eat he's used to me feeding him he's a biggun huh ... what words would do any good to a fellow like that..other than that scenerio and nesting time i don't think they would really bother you..sorry for the long read

I have seen one at lake athens...and pretty sure I spotted one one the trinity between ray hubbard and lewisville neither would have been over 4'

Saw this when I went to get on the boat this weekend.

It was in Arkansas.
Didn't see any though.

Take the kids out to the middle of the lake to swim if your seriously worried about gators. They are in every lake in north texas, including Grapevine. Gators arent going to hunt you down or come after you unless you are threatening their nest. Dont confuse the Alligator with the crocodile! I would be more worried about water moccasins around here.

I would be more worried about moccasins too, if only for the reason that there are more of them and they can bite in the water. But a gator, if it is going to try to eat (and that is the main reason they attack) a human, they are going to go for a child long before they would try to go for an adult.

Gators are all over the east Texas watersheds. They are a real conservation success story, coming back from near extinction...we have to remember that we are in their house, not the other way around. The risk is admittedly small, but it is there nonetheless.

You go into bear country, you run the risk of bear attack....you go into mountain lion country, same thing...swim in an area with sharks...well, you know. You have to decide what an "acceptable risk" is, and go from there.

All that said, you can't protect yourself or your kids from every danger, no matter how hard you try. The best thing you can do to keep them safe is to make sure they wear their seatbelts on the way to and from the lake. That is the most dangerous part of the whole trip.

One of a pair some customers and I ran into at Choke Canyon, this is the smaller of the two the other is about 15 to 16' we estimate.


Before we realized they were there and broke out the cameras the bigger one had vanished under the boat, no matter how safe you know you are it is a weird feeling when you cannot see these gators under the water. The game warden counted 23 sunning at choke last weekend, about a quarter mile from the, "swim area" with about 10 kids swimming. There is one thing about Choke, most newcomers have no idea they are there, not enough signs.

One of a pair some customers and I ran into at Choke Canyon, this is the smaller of the two the other is about 15 to 16' we estimate.


Before we realized they were there and broke out the cameras the bigger one had vanished under the boat, no matter how safe you know you are it is a weird feeling when you cannot see these gators under the water. The game warden counted 23 sunning at choke last weekend, about a quarter mile from the, "swim area" with about 10 kids swimming. There is one thing about Choke, most newcomers have no idea they are there, not enough signs.

ha i love that sign. "Do not touch, feed, or molest any alligators" or something along those lines.

I'm yet to see one though, and I live on a lake house. Right next to willow/snake island.

Perspective:

How many alligator attacks occur in the US annually?

How many fishermen attacked by cottonmouths?

How many drownings?

Whatcha worrying about, the sign means there's only "one" alligator there...

Theres a few up North in Toledo Bend that will push 15' in Teneha Creek

Thanks guys for all of the responses, after much reading and thinking, we are probably going to be washing a lot of chlorine out of our hair this summer. I agree that the chances are slim, but as a father I believe that one of my tasks is to remove the chances that I can when I see them.

Which leads me to my next pet peave, . . . . I mean "skewed risk perception":

I don't understand a couple of the posts that refer to riding in a car being more dangerous, because statistically speaking you are more likely to be killed in a car accident. Is that really a sound argument that is truly relevant to this post???

I mean really, does that mean that I should never get in an automobile again, which would mean: quit my job and never experience life outside of a 1 mile radius of my home, pull my kids out of school and home school them because the school is 3 miles away??? Or, does it mean: throw caution out the window, let my kids do anything they want such as: play in the street, stay out all night, play with firearms, and ride with no lifejackets???

In this day in time, when almost every household in America has at least 2 motor vehicles; and the average school, job, grocery store, quickie mart, movie theater, and restaurant is between 3 and 8 miles away, how do you avoid it really? That's almost like trying to avoid sunlight and air!!! Don't get me wrong, and I do understand how statistics work. There is a very good reasons why cars are more dangerous. Because they are everywhere, anywhere, all of the time, with anybody that can breathe behind the wheel. But when you really think it through, can you avoid them at all?

I'd be willing to bet that at any time day or night I have at least 100 cars within a block of me, but can go for days or even weeks without having a single alligator within a block of me. Out of those two choices I can tell you which one actually scares me (hint: it's not the cars!!).

Here's what I can do: I can hold my kid's hands in parking lots, tell them to play in the backyard and not out front, buckle them up in their car seats, and not let them swim in the same water that alligators and water moccasins swim in.

My point: just because "statistically speaking' alligators are far less dangerous than cars", doesn't mean that in reality they are less dangerous at all. Sometimes a little common sense has to be used to interperate statistics.

P.S. It also makes it easier when your wife is a little afraid of the water anyway.
Jeepthing

It doesn't take this many posts to solve it. How about just asking the following: "How would I feel if one of my kids got killed by an alligator in front of my eyes?"

Look just be smart about things in general. There is no countable gator population at Lewisville, if any. By using this logic you should never take your kids to Fair Park or the Dallas Zoo because they are in bad neighborhoods. Scared ain't no way to live. Having said that Fair Park after Dark ain't no way to live either.

Oh and Mr. Wings turn in your man card. Jessss, you act like there is a gator attack at lewisville daily when in fact there has'nt been one in history of the lake. Please, someone tell me what has happened to men today. Man up go swimming/fishing enjoy yourselves and quit hoping for change with a stimulus package for the Lewisville GATORS!!!!!!! For cryin out loud.

JW