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Creatures, Myths & Legends

Bigfoot hunter has spent decades seeking Florida's elusive Skunk Ape

By T.K. Randall
November 17, 2025 · Comment icon 43 comments
Skunk Ape
Image: AI-generated (Midjourney)
According to local folklore, deep in the Florida Everglades lives an undiscovered hominid with a skunk-like stench.
From the Yeti of the Himalayas to the Yowie of the Australian Outback - dozens of countries around the world have their own version of the cryptozoological hominid.

While Bigfoot is by far the best known example in North America, Florida happens to have its own regional version of the creature - a hominid known as the Skunk Ape.

Known for its wretched skunk-like stench, the beast is said to be six feet tall and resides in the swamps of the Florida Everglades where it is very rarely seen.

One man who has spent decades trying to track down the Skunk Ape is Dave Shealy who recalls witnessing the creature first-hand all the way back in 1974.

At the time, he had been hunting with his brother and had only heard tales from family members.

"We were maybe 300 feet from it, and it was walking through the grasslands," he told Mail Online.
"That's what got me started as a researcher. I've been doing this a while."

Since then, Shealy has established the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, written several guides, appeared on multiple TV shows and has generally dedicated his life to the phenomenon.

He also has a collection of footprints and other alleged Skunk Ape artifacts.

"Skunk apes are generally reported as being six-and-a-half to seven feet tall," he said.

"A large male Skunk Ape in good health probably would weigh around 350 pounds, whereas Bigfoot is reported to appear as much as 800 pounds."

Shealy maintains that the enormous scale of the Everglades explains why the creature has so far eluded discovery.

Above all else, he hopes that he will see it formally recognized as a species within his lifetime.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (43)




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Comment icon #34 Posted by Trelane 5 months ago
Correct. It could be assumed that individual had simply wandered from the main body to go foraging or maybe a bathroom break. That is if it's not a dude in a suit.
Comment icon #35 Posted by Trelane 5 months ago
That's about what I have been thinking for many years. To have this many alleged sightings across the entire continent the population size could very well be in the thousands for it to survive for so long.  That's where my skeptical nerve twitches. If there were/are this many of these sized creatures, we could certainly see their effects in their specific sighting locations and identify them in site-specific eDNA sampling.
Comment icon #36 Posted by GAZUK 5 months ago
Well, you say that, but given island populations of Orangs, for example,  live in much more confined areas, they are still not seen everyday except by people travelling into the relatively small deep jungle. A roving relict population of apes habituated to non human areas on a whole continent has a distinct possibility in my opinion. They are seen often enough, and leave small traces behind. I'm not going into 'high strangeness' reports. Just the possibility of them being either a relict early human or an ape relative that hopped the Asian land bridge/came up from South America.  
Comment icon #37 Posted by Trelane 5 months ago
Given the alleged size of this creature and what could be presumed of their dietary needs and caloric intake, there would likely be easily identifiable eDNA evidence that could be extracted in the the areas of alleged sightings. Plus a sizeable population that is continentally distributed would have likely easily identifiable impacts on the specific areas they inhabit.
Comment icon #38 Posted by Piney 5 months ago
They can test forest soil now and the DNA of every animal and plant can be found. This is done for forest health reasons.  A unknown fungus has been showing up all over but no unknown hominids. 
Comment icon #39 Posted by Abramelin 5 months ago
They must also be highly intelligent. No one ever caught one, or showed convincing proof of their existence.
Comment icon #40 Posted by Piney 5 months ago
If they have poop, it would show up in soil tests. This is embarrassing. When I was running with Tennessee Mary Green I had what we thought was Bigfoot poop in my kitchen freezer. ? It was .......nevermind...?
Comment icon #41 Posted by Freez1 5 months ago
How many Bigfoot bones have you ever seen? How many Skunkape bones have you ever seen? We know there are bears and mountain lions how many of those bones have you seen? Kinda weird!
Comment icon #42 Posted by the13bats 4 months ago
In the pgf blooper reel is Patterson trying to help the guy get out of the suit before he whizzes in it.
Comment icon #43 Posted by the13bats 4 months ago
I fully believe the skunk ape is very very real, ive seen them but its not the classic bf, it's several different creatures ranging from escaped or freed monkeys and apes, to bears especially ones with skin issues to even humans some a bit feral living off the grid, I knew a pig hunter who would take a woods guys cigarettes, the hunter told me the guy was mentally gone, totally unkempt and would likely be mistaken and shot as a bf someday. I once saw a deer that still unnerved me, it was up bipedal, looking, acting, sounding nuts.


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