There are all kinds of strange things in florida. It is full of lush tropical vegetation and swamp waters. Animals are here that don't belong here. Its not just Honey Island that may have a Bigfoot type creature walking around.
The photo shown here was taken by Dave Shealy of south Florida. He was in the Everglades one day with a video camera he borrowed from a friend.
He had been observing this area for weeks from a tree stand. This happened to be the same area he had a sighting when he was a kid. Well, this upright hairy thing walked right in front of him and he shot this video.
Many believe this video was hoaxed. No matter what. Shealy will be the star of an upcoming reality show about Bigfoot on the travel channel. Way to go David.
Dave Shealy Owner Of The Florida Skunk Ape Museum and Research Center
Dave Shealy is a friend of mine and I am glad he is getting a new reality TV show on Discovery channel, about the Skunk Ape in Florida. Attention needs to be called to this phenomena and Dave is the guy to do it. Dave owns the Skunk Ape research and visitor center on Alligator between Naples and Miami. It is in a desolate and uninhabited part of the state and home to many skunk ape encounters. BFRO has recorded these skunk ape sightings in Collier County and environs and I can't wait to see the show. You are right Shawn, not my turn this time. There is always next year, just ask the Miami Heat!
"35 years looking for the skunk ape.
This week, he’ll have company.
A film crew from California-based Authentic Entertainment, the production company behind reality TV shows Ace of Cakes (Food Network) and Flipping Out (Bravo) is in Ochopee to begin filming a pilot reality show intended for Discovery Channel in the fall.
Shealy, curator of the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, has appeared on other shows about the legendary skunk ape, a yeti-like creature adapted to the wilds of South Florida, including "Unsolved Mysteries" and "The Daily Show."
He calls the Discovery Channel pilot the biggest project he’s worked on.
An Authentic Entertainment associate in Burbank confirmed that a film crew is in Florida on the project but the producers in the field declined to comment on the making of the show.
Shealy said they’ll employ a helicopter to get aerial shots and tour the 10,000 Islands by boat. Advanced technology, which he declined to describe, will be used as well, he said.
“The producers really want to put together a successful show,” he said.
Shealy knows not everyone buys the tale of the skunk ape, a 7-foot tall biped covered in hair and emitting a foul odor. The website for his Trail Lakes Campground on U.S. 41 in the Big Cypress Preserve, hosts an ongoing poll asking visitors if they believe in the creature’s existence. More than 25 percent of the 2,500 respondents either believe it to be a hoax or are skeptical.
But a majority either believe in the idea or find it plausible.
He says new information is surfacing all the time. “I’m hot on the trail,” he said, adding the fresh evidence points to the presence of a skunk ape around Sunniland. “New doors are opening. I look forward to bringing this to a close real soon.” Naplenews.com
Dave Shealy has spent nearly his whole life looking for the Florida Skunk Ape or the Florida Bigfoot, believed by many, to be only a figment of his imagination.
You know him from his appearances on national television; Discovery Channel, Travel, Channel, TLC, Unsolved Mysteries, The Daily Show, The Pulse, Inside Edition, and you have read about his adventures in the Enquirer, The Sun, Miami NewTimes, and Readers Digest.
Dave spends most of his time in the Big Cypress Swamp searching for the Skunk Ape when he's not maintaining the Trail Lakes Campground.
He once tried to form an expidition to find and "bag' the skunk ape. Financing for that fell thru. At least one guy in Florida has the right idea. We are at the point that we need a body in a research lab for total proof.
Dave Shealy owns and runs the Skunk Ape museum and the Trail Lakes Campground in Ochopee, Florida. The Skunk Ape Museum and Research Headquarters is open to the public 7 days a week from 7am to 7pm. You can purchase Skunk Ape memorabilia along with blow guns, knives and alligator heads at the Headquarters Store or on line. The Headquarters also features a Reptile & Bird Exhibit of huge gators, constrictors and a variety of exotic birds. Admission is $3 per person
