alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. this has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a manner that may provoke the animals into attacking. in florida, feeding wild alligators at any time is illegal. if fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and will learn to associate humans with food, thereby becoming both a greater danger to people, and at greater risk from them.