Hey Jack, you were smart to keep an eye on the alligator, but not so smart for feeding it. When people feed alligators, the alligators lose their fear of man, and that's when they attack people. Your alligator friend was comfortable having you around, after some time, however, it could have gotten angry at you for not feeding it again. That's when it could come after you and chase you down. An alligator can "run" up to 40 mph for a short distance chasing it's prey. Being that you were only 2 feet away from that alligator, you would have been an easy catch.