ORLANDO, Fla. _ An alligator was protecting its young when it trapped a teen in a tree last week, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
A Lake County deputy sheriff shot the female gator, which was about 8 { feet long, with an AR-15 rifle. A gator nest was found nearby, according to Greg Workman, a spokesman for the commission.
"While alligators don't climb trees, they can use their back feet and tail to push their body upwards against a tree," Workman wrote in an email.
A 15-year-old girl was floating on a raft in a creek near Alexander Springs park in the Ocala National Forest, when the alligator quickly approached her, authorities said. She grabbed a large branch hanging over the water and climbed into the tree. The alligator then waited in the water at the base of the tree.
Her father called 911 and told the operator his daughter was stuck in a tree surrounded by gators. After a deputy shot the gator, the teen climbed down safely, according to a sheriff's report.
