BELVILLE -- Belville town officials are warning park visitors not to feed the alligators at the Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville.
There have been reports of people feeding them off the fishing pier, attracting more gators to the area.
Officials said when you do this, gators associate people with food, which is very dangerous.
"Alligators are an attractive nuisance. That's the best way to phrase it. But what you have to realize and most people don't is that an alligator can move extremely rapidly over a short distance. And when you have small children or a dog, it's hazardous for them to be anywhere near an alligator's habitat," said Joe Breault, commissioner for the Town of Belville.
They're also reminding visitors it is illegal to feed alligators in North Carolina.