I had recently written an article about ways to help keep alligators afraid of humans and avoid attack. The best way to lower an alligators fear of man is by feeding it. This makes them equate humans to food. Their natural behaviour would usually be to stay away from humans due to their natural fear of us, especially when they are younger and smaller. By feeding them though the exact opposite happens, they will now approach us instead of keeping their distance. This not only endangers the person bright enough to feed the animal, but endangers any othe person for whatever reason it is may come in some kind of close contace with them. This is the reason Florida as has made it illegal to feed alligators.

A few days ago a Palm Bay resident feeding a 3 foot alligator ended up with one nasty bite on her hand. Danielle Rivera, 25, was visiting Manatee Point with her 3 year old son and her mother. This place is very frequented by people who want to feed fish and watch manatees. Out of nowhere Danielle got a bright idea to feed an alligator and not only feed it, but feed it by hand. She tryed feeding the small gator bread, luckily for her it was only small. She claims "I didn't know he would lunge out of the water like that", and had no idea that in Florida it is also against the law.

So please to avoid not only possibly losing your life, but also to not get arrested DO NOT FEED ALLIGATORS. Especially by hand they are dangerous wild animals, not a house cat.

Stephen Bis is a student at FAU. He has been diving and studying the marine life in South Florida for the past 5 years. Visit this site to find out more information about the American Alligator