Louisiana Camping: Be Careful where you Drop your Fishing Line

It was beautiful summer morning and my family and I were in 3 mile Bayou Melville, Louisiana camping. I was enjoying being at our camp with all the kids, fishing off the pier.  It got too quiet, so I decided I had better check. I walked down to the bayou.  Everything looked great.  My oldest step-daughter and her brother and my son all were fishing.  The youngest, a six year old girl, was standing in the water. I thought to myself that nothing could be any better, they weren’t even talking.

I stood there for a while enjoying the view, when I saw a big log floating down the bayou, it took a few milliseconds for me to realize the log was floating against the current.  I yelled at the kids to get out and away from the water.  It was a twelve foot alligator coming straight for my little step daughter.  I sent my son to get the video camera, but he returned without any film; by that time a boat had come along and scared the alligator away. I finally got a picture of it going across Half-Moon Lake. To this day I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t decide to check on the kids.That’s Louisiana camping for you, not so much the bears you have to watch for it’s more of an alligator area. Just be careful where you drop your fishing line.

Author: Dorothy Jones

Edited By: CampTrip.com