The Everglades Skunk Ape: A Summary

In an article written by Frank Spaeth in Fate's December 1997 issue, page 53, Spaeth writes: "He's big, he's hairy, and he smells really bad"

Spaeth tells his readers about the Bigfoot-like creature who inhabits the Florida Everglades. There was a rash of sightings, at least six. all in 1997, between mid-July and mid-August. He shares the location with his readers, near Ochopee, in Collier County, Florida, in the Big Cypress preserve.

You see, the sightings weren't reported by kooks or from people who would be considered suspect. The very first one was from a tour guide for Pelican Tours, "one of many companies that take groups into the Everglades." Steve Goodbread, Spaeth went on to explain, was just doing what he always does, driving a group of people through the preserve. The date was July 16, 1997, Spaeth reports. The time was about 2:00 p.m., daylight, nothing special about that day.

When Goodbread spotted the creature, he did what any good tour guide would do. He stopped the bus so all the passengers could get a good look at what he was seeing, a large brown creature reported to be about 7 ft. tall. So, we now have the tour guide and an entire bus load of tourists looking at the infamous Skunk Ape in broad daylight.

Two short days after the Goodbread tour bus incident, another tour guide from a different tour company named Everglades Day Safari, Dow Roland, saw the creature twice, near the same spot Goodbread had seen him, and about the same time of day. Roland explains to Spaeth in his interview that he had spotted him on a "...gravel road that runs parallel to the Turner River, giving a tour to some people from the United Kingdom," Roland explained. "We always go out there to look for birds, turtles, and other animals in the Everglades."

In the article, Spaeth provides more details gleaned from Roland's interview. Roland explains that he had always lived in the area, a lifetime of living, in fact. He heard a passenger yell, "Skunk Ape!" The entire tour van looked in the direction the passenger was pointing to see a "reddish-brown, gorilla-looking creature standing 100 yards from the tour van," Spaeth reports. Unfortunately, it was only visible for a few seconds before disappearing into the dense foliage of the Everglades. Roland, being the adventurous type and wanting to give his passengers a memory they won't forget, drove the van, which is easier to maneuver than a bus would be, in the direction the creature went, for a better look. He was able to bring the van to within 50 yards of the place where the creature had been spotted. Amazingly the creature emerged from the foliage one more time to provide another amazing glimpse of the beast before disappearing a second and last time into the forest. Roland thinks that the Skunk Ape ...is probably just a bored local looking for something to do. The adults on the tour who also saw the creature agreed with Roland.

Spaeth reports that in August , 1997, the 9th, to be exact, in the (Florida) Daily News, Brent Batten wrote, "Skunk ape sightings will likely boost tourism in a part of the country that could use it right about now. Some have suggested that the entire flap may be a hoax intended to do just that. "He seemed to agree with Roland and the British tourists on that idea.

However, there is one person, a man who has spent his entire life in the Everglades, named David Shealy, who knows better. He owns a gift shop and a campground in Ochopee, Florida. He is sure there is a lot more behind the sightings and encounters. Spaeth writes in his article, that "... According to the St. Augustine (Florida) Record, Shealy said, "I saw it one time when we were going to hunt." Shealy reports that he even has a plaster mold of skunk ape tracks and a reddish hair sample that he says is from a skunk ape. Shealy said he took the sample from a broken branch 7 ft. from the ground.

Spaeth told him that the hair was stolen........ by... well, to coin a phrase used a lot these days, the MEN IN BLACK. Shealy told Spaeth about the theft. He explained that " two guys in dark suits, wearing black sunglasses, and driving a black sedan broke into his house in the middle of the night and heisted the hair sample., Spaeth wrote in his article. Spaeth reports that one major piece of evidence was missed by the MEN IN BLACK. It was a photograph taken by Ochopee Fire Control District fire chief Vince Doerr.

Chief Doerr also had an encounter with Skunk Ape. He ran into him on July 21, of 1997 on his way to work. David Shealy is making sure that nothing is going to happen to the photo. He has handed it over to the Collier County Commission "so they will take action and investigate the alleged sightings." Spaeth reports in his article. Shealy believes, Spaeth writes, that they are being "driven out of the swampland by mosquitoes, which are terrible in the area this year. Unfortunately, even though Doerr took the infamous picture and had a brief encounter himself, he still thinks it is a hoax.

Spaeth goes on to give a bit of background about the Skunk Ape myth and legends that have been around the area for a long time. He tells his readers that "Sightings were especially abundant in the 1970's, shortly after the 1967 Patterson Bigfoot film surfaced. Reported sightings were scarce in the 1980's, but in November 1993 an isolated incident occurred.

Spaeth goes on to report about that incident. A local, Kelly Reeves, Spaeth continues in his report, "...was out hunting hogs and driving swamp buggies with friends." Spaeth shares with his readers that the group came upon large footprints. He reports that the stride of the creature making them was estimated to be six feet. Spaeth explains that the group took video footage of the tacks, then left.

Spaeth suggests that only by investigating the Everglades the way researchers are investigating the Northwest forests, will we be able to finally learn whether it is a hoax or the real McCoy, and reviews are mixed.

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