To get that perfect wildlife shot, it can be tempting to drop a few bread crumbs or other food morsels down on the ground, letting an animal stop to eat so you can get a close photograph. However, there is a reason these signs are up in parks and other wildlife areas.

Feeding animals is dangerous both to you and to the animal. Fed animals become accustomed to humans doling out food, thus they lose their fear of humans and tend to wander towards populated areas. Hungry animals can then attack pets or humans, and thus the animals have to be either moved farther away or euthanized.

The latter can happen for potentially dangerous animals to prevent further harm on people and pets. This is why, for example, you are told never to feed bears in the Smoky Mountains, and why feeding wild alligators in Florida is a punishable crime.

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