A 25-year-old woman in Melbourne, Fla., was treated at a hospital Thursday after an alligator jumped out of the water and bit her hand as she tried to feed it by hand, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release.

The 3-foot alligator bit Danielle Rivera, of Palm Bay, Fla., Thursday afternoon at Crane's Creek in downtown Melbourne.

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Rivera told a FWC investigator that she was trying to feed an alligator when it bit her hand instead of the food. She said she did not realize it could propel itself out of the water.

"This is a classic example of why it is against the law to feed alligators in Florida," said Joy Hill, public information coordinator for the FWC's Northeast Region. "The good news is that Ms. Rivera was treated and released from the hospital within a couple of hours of the incident. If the alligator had been a couple of feet larger, this story may have had a much different ending. Another reason people shouldn’t feed alligators is that feeding them is about the same as signing their death warrant."

An officer issued Rivera a written warning for violating Florida’s law that prohibits feeding wild alligators. Rivera could have been charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, but the officer felt she learned her lesson about feeding alligators the hard way and she likely won’t do it again.

"Our goal is to get people to comply with the law," said Lt. Rick Brown. "We make an effort to take a minimal amount of law enforcement action to achieve that goal."

The alligator was captured and will be harvested, Local 6 News reported.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.