“I lived down there in the 50’s and 60’s and it was the same. “
We used to go night fishing in the lakes and ponds seldom visited by humans.
We would shine the flashlight in the shores around us and see dozens of pairs of red eyes reflected. Then we would jump in to cool off.
A gator has a brain about the size of a golf ball. Tourists feed them and they have started associating people with food or as food.