The Big Cypress National Preserve received a couple of Bigfoot reports from tourists recently, but officials didn't take them too seriously. But longtime residents of the remote, rural community say the creature has been around for generations. Shealy said he saw what he believes was the skunk ape when he was a young boy hunting with his brother. He also grew up listening to skunk ape stories. Shealy said, relating one tale.
Legend has the skunk ape smelling like a combination of rotten eggs, moldy cheese and goat dung.
Fire chief Doerr and Pelican Tours operator Steve Goodbread, who also recently spotted a hairy creature, are almost embarrassed to discuss what they saw. Shealy isn't ashamed to talk about or believe in the skunk ape. A small group of British tourists and their tour guide swear to that. They reported seeing the hulking, ape-like creature lurking one afternoon last week behind a veil of Spanish moss that drips from the towering cypress trees at the swampy edges of Turner River Road. Could it be . . .