Once in the presence of Don one can feel the energy and enthusiasm emanating from his ambitious personality. Don is always ready to share his knowledge and experiences with a little mixture of wit and humor. He is truly a man of the world having set out on his own at the age of fourteen to discover the world. Don is a person of many characters; pirate, gunslinger,mountain man, game guide, hunter, adventurer, explorer and Santa Claus, for he’s always bearing gifts for people who are in need. Don also has a respect and a deep appreciation for nature. He once guided a fellow on a bear hunt. Having found their quarry his client was anxious to shoot. The bear was at a distance of about 400 yards. Don’s client shot and wounded the bear after Don had insisted not shooting, for the bear was to far for a good shot and because the difficult and steep terrain would make it difficult to retrieve and remove the bear. Don was furious. Not wanting to leave a wounded bear to suffer Don tracked and killed the bear. After seeing the difficulty in removing the bear the client suggested leaving it only to infuriate Don even further. Don said, ” We’re not going to leave the bear to waste. You insisted on shooting it, now I insist on you removing it.” Don told his client to remove his clothes for they were needed to haul the bear up the steep ravine piece by piece. The client, stunned and reluctant, agreed, considering it might be in the best interest for all concerned.

Don has also been successful in a variety of businesses in his life time including being a trader, which he still does from time to time when on the road or, at his trading post in Idaho. Don’s trading post is centered in the middle of a small town. Visitors are a welcome sight for trading or just good conversation, most of them that is. One day a couple of suspicious looking fellows that didn’t look like the socializing type pulled up in an old car and came into the store. Don noticed the hippie-looking one kept one hand in his pocket, possibly concealing something. Looking at the pistols in the display case the stranger asked Don if he would use one of them if someone tried to rob him. Don, already on alert quickly responded, ” No! I would use, this one!” While the fellow was still looking down at the pistols in the display case Don had pulled one from a shelf above his head and told him to reach for the sky as he pointed it at him. As quick as this all came down his partner like Flash Gordon was even quicker escaping out the door and heading to the freeway in the vehicle leaving his buddy behind to fend for himself. Don retrieved a pistol from the suspects pocket, hog tied him and put him outside on the ground, threw his pistol beside him and let him lay in the sun for a few hours in an ant bed checking on his well being from time to time, pouring syrup and beer on him and giving him a few kicks for good measure before finally calling the Sheriff. Knowing the fellow would be reluctant to explain the circumstances after trying to rob him, Don told the Sheriff he had just walked outside seen the fellow in that situation and called the Sheriff. I’m sure the Sheriff, knowing Don, suspected their was more to the story as the stranger was cursing and threatening to kill Don as he was being taken to the Sheriff”s unit.

The only problem with the trading post, aside from the unscrupulous types on occasion, it’s almost never open. Why not? One might ask. Well, that could be the beginning of a long story so we’ll try to keep it short. Don is on a quest. A life long quest to try to solve an ageless mystery or legend if you like. For Don got smitten with what is known as the Bigfoot bug at a very early age of eleven with a friend of the same age in the Pocatello Mountains. Don and his friend went into the mountains with the intentions of tracking down a mountain lion with their twenty-two rifles and dogs. They were by the camp fire when their dogs begin to tremble and cower at their feet. The two grabbed their twenty-two rifles, put more wood on the fire and stood at the ready. “Suddenly from the darkness, came a series of terrible sounds, of shrieks, high-pitched yells and guttural growls,and the sounds of activity, as if something were out their fighting with something,” Don said. The two boys sat at the fire, guns in hand with their cowering dogs for the rest of the night with no further disturbances. The next morning, fifty yards from their camp, they found the remains of a sheep, torn limb from limb, scattered over an area of twenty square feet. No part of the animal had been eaten! To reinforce this quest, while hunting Don and his wife Marion saw something on Mount Index, Washington in 1982. Don and his wife were bear hunting when Marion seen something that she thought was a bear until it ran across a rock slide on two legs for over a hundred yards. Don had seen it and said it was about eight feet tall with long arms as it stepped back and let go of a heavy brush and disappeared into the woods. Don is an author who’s wrote extensively about his discoveries and experiences, with a lot of great interviews in two books. “Sasquatch 2001″ and “Sasquatch 2005″ With No. 3 on the way. Don is a delightful character who’s always entertaining and more than willing to share his adventures and experience with a well balanced sense of humor, as long as your not a dork that is. Don doesn’t have time for dorks. Don likes people who are sincere, have a sense of adventure and like to learn. And at the same time not take life too serious.

I’ve known Don for several years now, and had my first adventure and experience with him in the St. Joe Mountains. Don called me and asked if iI would like to join him on a seventy-mile trek into Bigfoot country. I told him I would have to decline, I was not prepared physically, or financially. Receiving a call a couple of weeks later and repeating, I was not in shape for such a trek, Don assured me we would be able to shorten the hike to twenty or twenty-five miles,[ha! ha!] and would take it easy at our own pace. Not overly ambitious about engaging in this adventure I said, ” I don’t have a back pack.” Don says, ” I have an extra one.” I said. ” I don’t have food, or supplies for such a trek.” Don said, ” I have food, and all the equipment necessary.” I said, “I don’t even have a good pair of hiking boots or a pistol, and I ain’t going into any mountains with no pistol.” Don said, ” What size boots do you wear? I got ‘em, What type pistol you need? 45, 44 magnum, I got ‘em.” I said, ” I can’t get a ticket right now.” Don said, “I’ll get you a ticket right now, and pick you up in Spokane.” There was no way out. The trek was on.

After Don picked me up we headed to the house of Ted Henderson, an old friend of Don’s, who had made many excursions into the same mountains with Don that we were headed to. Sadly he was not in shape to join us. After being introduced, Ted told me of a fascinating encounter he had with Don. We said our good-by’s. As we drove away, I almost felt out of place seeing the tears swelling up in the old fellows eyes as he realized his days of adventuring into the mountains with Don were over. Ted told me while in the mountains where we were headed that he and Don had heard strange high pitched bird-like sounds right out side their tent during the night. It was like chattering going back and forth. Like something was communicating. After the sounds stopped Don went out and found tracks of something that had walked away on two feet. “I’ve been in the mountains most of my life and I’ve never herd anything like that,” Ted told me. It’s in the mountains like this for an extended amount of time that you get to know each other. I learned a lot about Don on that trek, as I know he did me. After getting into Don’s van heading for the mountains, Don said something like,” You’re going to hate me for this, but your going to love me for the adventure.” I didn’t ask Don to elaborate on what he meant by that, I don’t think I wanted to know, and was sure I was going to find out anyway as it was too late to turn back. I have to admit, it was an adventure. We witnessed some unusual events. The second night[about 20 miles] into the mountains Don woke me around 1 a.m.. He said, ” Come here, I want to show you something.” We walked to the edge of the mountain over looking the canyon. On the side of a mountain [probably 5 to 10 miles] was a lite blue colored light flashing on and off, covering the whole canyon. Don said he had been watching it for about an hour and it was lighting up every eight seconds. We were puzzled as to what it might be. Of course I suggested the obvious, a possible U.F.O. that had landed and was probably studying us while we were looking for Bigfoot. I suggested we try and hike to the area and get a better look. Don’s reply was instant. “I don’t want anything to do with them, they don’t do nice things to people.” After having a good chuckle, knowing we would probably never know the answer, I retired for the night. Don stayed up and watched the pretty light.[At the end of the trek we spoke to a forest service person who told us that area was closed off and nobody was back in there]

Three or four days into the hike, on an obscure trail we came across a footprint that was about fourteen inches in length and several inches in width, with the toes fairly displayed in the light gravel. There was only one track as the surrounding strata was to hard. The morning of the next night Don said he heard something like dogs barking. There were no houses or people in the national forest that we knew of. I told Don that there’s good evidence that Bigfoot makes barking sounds. As we set out on the the trail that morning it wasn’t long before something unusual happened. We were startled by a loud exhaling sound coming from a ravine we had just passed. After 60 miles or so, tired, with little food and water and several miles to go we opted to continue our way out. Looking back at finding the one track that day, hearing the barking in the night, and the loud sound of something exhaling the next morning makes one wonder if we were possibly being followed. I don’t know what night it was but a storm with heavy rain came upon us suddenly. We had taken shelter in a ravine under the forest canopy next to a mountain. Within a short time I was completely soaked, sleeping bag clothes and all, for the rain and mud from the hillside had completely enveloped me. I was freezing and wondering if I was going to die of hypothermia before morning. Fortunately, the storm only lasted a couple of hours. Looking over at Don, all dry and cosy in his little cocoon, I was all most afraid to disturb him. At my insistence, Don, reluctantly got up to build a fire. [after I had scoured the forest floor for dry wood for two hours] The fire was a life saver. After getting dry, the rest of the night would have been relatively comfortable if I wouldn’t have had to endure this singing [noise] to limericks being made up as he went along describing our situation with a big silly grin on his face till wee hours in the morning. I’m not sure but I think it must have been some form of punishment for waking him. With all things considered, four infected teeth on the last leg of the trek that had my face swollen with one eye shut, [Don offered to pull them, I respectfully declined] all the MRE’s [meals ready to eat] and blisters on the top and bottom of my feet [the boots didn't fit] it was a real experience. Hate? hmm- not really, but, thanks for the adventure.

Ronnie

Part 2 - To be continued– This is where it gets interesting –coming soon The strange Caves of Don Monroe

The historical reports that persist to the present day of hairy man like creatures is not only a national phenomena, it is world wide. When people here of such reports across North America they automatically think of The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas or Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest. Some remote far away place deep in the mountains. When, in reality most reports are much closer to home. The term Bigfoot is a name given to giant hairy creatures that walk on two legs like man in Northern California that so far remains unidentified. The term Abominable Snowman according to the footprints is obviously not the same creature as what is being described in the pacific northwest. It’s entirely possible that whets being seen in Florida is different than in the Pacific North West. Until hard evidence is discovered to verify the existence we can only speculate. Until then unfortunately we’re stuck with cartoonist sounding names such as Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot, and Skunkape. Most Most people are skeptical of skunkape or swampape reports because of a number of misconceptions. One of the biggest misconceptions is there is no place to hide. Florida has thousands of square miles of forest and bottom lands spotted with areas that are difficult to traverse if not impossible. Unbelievable as it may seem with all the development and destruction of natural habitat that has taken place there is still plenty of wild areas to support an unknown creature such as the skunkape. The The The skunkape can easily avoid man and his settlements with its nocturnally keen senses and physical abilities in these large areas of closed canopied, subtropical jungles, and swamps with dense undergrowth. Florida’s history of sightings and footprints are not unlike that of the Pacific North West. Reports of people who are reputable and of sound and sober mind have reported seeing such creatures while driving on the roadways, hunting, camping, or just strolling through the woods. Reports coming from average citizens to professional people that includes law officers, forest rangers, teachers and scientists themselves. People with impeccable reputations describing these legendary creatures. The history and unexplained sighting reports strongly suggests that these creatures are real. The Florida Skunkape is an on going mystery in need of explanation. The name Skunkape is of fairly recent origin to identify these creatures and gives the impression that this phenomena surfaced with in the last sixty years or so. When in reality sightings have been reported for over two hundred years. Beginning with the Indians of Florida. The name Shaawanoki is an Indian name to describe these creatures long before the name Skunkape came about. Though reports go back two hundred years, the vast majority have only surfaced with in the last sixty years. This is probably due to the fact that more people are willing to come forward, knowing that other people have witnessed what they have. Increased populations, decreased wild lands, and better communications has undoughtably contributed to more sighting reports also. Here are a few of the many reports of skunkape sightings beginning with a published report about an encounter in northern Florida in 1829. A giant story

“A Giant Story” first appeared in the Milledgeville (Georgia) STATESMAN and was reprinted in the Vincennes Western sun & general advertiser foe June ,6, 1829. The story began with a creek Indian legend about an enchanted island in the Okefenokee Swamp. the island was supposed to be inhabited by “mortals of super-human dimensions& incomparable beauty .”

The meat of this story follows:

This legend we have hitherto regarded as fabulous but Mr. John Ostean, Residing on the borders of this swamp, in ware county, and some of his neighbors over the line in Florida, have become satisfied in ocular reality, an they so aver , that is mainly, a matter of fact! We have their statement in writing, tested by a respectable witness, who has put in our hand, containing the following facts–we beg the gentlemen’s pardon– TRUTHS, as we should say.

Not long ago, two men and a boy, in the vicinity of this swamp, like our friend Paul Pry,” had curiosity to know” what could have been seen by two or three weeks’ pilgrimage into the accessible regions of this dismissal EMPIRE.– The season being unusually dry, they pushed there exploration far into the interior, and at the end of a little more than two weeks, found their progress suddenly arrested at the appearance of the print footstep, so unearthly in its dimensions, so ominous of power, and terrible in form, that they were at once reminded of the legend we had mentioned above, and began to seriously apprehend its solemn reality. The length of the foot was was eighteen and the breadth ninth inches. The monster, from every appearance must of moved forward in any easy or hesitating gait, his stride, from heal to toe, being but a trifle over six feet. Our adventurers had seen enough, and began to think of securing a retreat , without waiting to salute his majesty, not doubting but the other part of the story might be proven true– of his fierceness and cruelty. They happily affected there escape, returned home, and related the history of their adventures, and what they had seen of the “Man Mountain.”

A company of Florida hunters, half horse, half alligator in nine in number determined, a few months since, to make this gentleman a visit– to ascertain if he had a family and his manner of living. Following for a few days, the direction of there guide, they came at length upon the track first discovered; some vestiges of which were still eminence , and determined to pitch their came and refresh them self for the day. The report of their rifles, as one or two of them were simultaneously discharged at an advancing and ferocious wild beast, made the still solitudes of these dismal lakes reverberate with deafening roar . Echo, Beyond echo, took up and prolonged the sound, which seemed to die away and revive in successive peals for several minutes. The report had reached and started from his lair, the genius of the swamp, and the next minute he was full in their view advancing upon them with a terrible look and a ferocious mien .–Our little band instinctively gathered close in a body, and presented there rifles.–The huge being, nothing daunted, bounded upon his victims and in the same instant, revised the contents of seven rifles. But he did not fall alone; nor until he had been glutted his wrath with the death of five of them, which he affected by ringing of the head from its body. Writhing and exhausted , at the length he fell ,with his hapless prey beneath his grasp. The surviving four had time to examine the dreadful being as he lay extended on the earth, and sometimes wallowing a roaring. His length was thirteen feet, and his breadth and volume of just proportions.

Fearing, lest the report of their rifles, and the stentorian yells of the expiring giant should bring suddenly upon them the avengers of his blood, they betook themselves to flight, having first secured the rifles of there headless comrades, and returned home with this account of there adventures.

The story of the report, as related above, is a matter of fact, and the truth of it is accredited , we are told by persons living on the boarder of this swamp and in the neighborhood of the surviving adventures.

The size of the dieing giant puts it clearly in the category of true giants exceeding the heights of other types of wild men.

1942 report
L. Frank Hudson, St. Petersburg article in St. Pete Times Floridian, Mar. 26, ‘72. Man named Isac, south of Branford, Florida 1942. Skunkape supposed to have leaped on running board for half a mile, looking in the window. Was very heavy, nearly turned car over, Jumped off and ran into the woods, about 8 feet tall.

1947 report
R.D. Silkett, Lakeland, Florida 1947 Then only three or four, playing near house in orange grove, woods behind. Looked up and saw strange upright animal with very nearly human face watching him from about 10 feet away. Gray colored. Large. Ran away, screaming into house. Little sister was with him but does not remember incident.Mother warned them to stay close to house as some animal had been seen.

1950 report
Driving home from Palatka at night, truck started rattling and shaking, thought was flat tire, got, nothing wrong. “Something behind me kind of squatted and came at me, like a gorilla it was huge, it was above the cab of the truck. All I remember clearly is its arm, with dark reddish brown hair, to me it resembled a big old man’s hairy arm. That thing grunted and——stunk. They took off, but not before it left huge scratches on the door from top to bottom. Children were with them.

1957 report
Doug Tarrant, Robert Webb and “Pug” Big Cypress Swamp. April 1957.About 8 miles past Tamiami Ranger Station on Hwy 41, group slung hammocks from cypress trees on small island. About 3 am heard heavy foot steps. Saw about 30 feet away dark silhouette, like large man. Too big for a man, dark color, no sign of clothing. Pub said he saw eyes glowing, it walked away after about two minutes. Made very heavy crashing and splashing.

1960 report
Mrs. Eulah Lewis, near Brooksville, Florida. Outside trailer home, heard noise like crackling paper, looked up and saw thing standing there, About 6 foot, 300 pounds, dark hair about 3 inches long, no neck, huge shoulders. She ran for house, it ran too,from other side. She got there first. Heard heavy footfalls, next day found footprints back in woods. Thought thry were hanging around at that period. Would call to each other, starting low then screeching very high. Sighting was at dusk.

1963 report
Holopaw, H.C. “Buz” On ranch outside Holopaw, saw apelike creature running across a field. Prominent cattleman and citrus grower claimed he was in a group that had been within a few feet of it, and it was definitely an ape of some kind.

1966 report
Holopaw, Florida, November. Five feet tall, very broad,walked on two feet.
Other stories described a six foot “ape” attacking two hunters on the Desert (Mormon) Ranch. They were supposed to have shot at it, and it went screaming into the darkness.

1967 report
Romona Hibner confirms Warren Smith account. James Pakerton, near Brooksville, Florida. Driving truck, sleeping in cab, almost in Brooksville. Heard someone approaching , opened door, 8′ hairy creature grabbed his feet. He hit air horn and scared it off. He reported to Sheriff’s office.

1969 report
Robert Goble, from Miami near Fort Pierce, Florida. Driving near swamp, saw ape like creature grabbing for roots in a creek, was about 8′ tall. Later saw creature’s footprints, 18″ long by 6″ wide.

1970 report
Fishermen from Placida, Florida, Gulf of Mexico.Shrimp boat crew tells of seeing Yetis swimming as much as 20 miles out in the Gulf . Captain says he has seen one swimming under water.

1971 report
Cayo Pelau, Florida. At 3 am one of two men saw a creature and cried out. The other man Mr. Osbun rolled out of tent, saw big man with no neck, body covered with hair, it turned and ran off. Left horrible smell. Footprints measured 17 1/2″ by 11 1/2″ cast. Found various other prints since. H.C. “Buz” Osbun was President of Peninsular Archeological Society and board member of the Miami Museum OF Science. Other sightings reported ; include Henry Ring, Broward County Rabies Control Officer, claimed to be legends of “Skunkape”

1972 report
Allen Carter , Brooksville, Florida, 9 miles north of Brooksville, May.
5 year old boy playing with trike large Sasquatch came out of woods with baby Sasquatch and stood watching. Young one climbed the fence, boy ran, older brothers and sisters came and saw baby Sasquatch with trike the trike , spinning the wheel. It went back over the fence, mother hid =the trike under a bush. Later they left. The mother Sasquatch was 7′ , dark hair, except its face. No neck pungent odor.Tracks were followed to swamp, she had been eating young tea roots.

1973 report
Terrence Craig Smith of Nobleton, Florida July
Craig Smith says he and his father, at dusk in a 4 wheel drive truck, thought they saw a man fishing and approached him. The thing was 7-8 ft. tall, it raised up, hairy on arms and legs, chest bare, huge muscular chest and shoulders. It ran towards him then jumped over their truck and went on into swamp. Immokalee Police cast five toed 15″ footprints, says another was seen at a horse ranch on Jan.9.,1974 , at night. Ripped head off of pony, jumped fence and ran.

1974 report
3:30am Smith called Florida Highway Patrol and said he had hit a two legged creature resembling a gorilla which then took off in the brush, on State road 27 , near Krome Ave. UPI dispatch says another call came to Dade County office about two hours later, saying the same thing was seen limping 5 miles south on 27.

1974 report
Richard Smith was driving on Jan. 9 , south on US Hwy 27 at 12:30am when he unintentionally hit somebody that looked like a large black man standing in the road. After stopping and getting our of the vehicle, Smith was surprised to see that what he had hit was manlike , covered in black hair and 7-8 ft. tall. It looked as if the creature was in pain and angry. Smith got back in his car and sped away as the thing was growling. Smith’s vehicle showed front end damage and blood stains. Officer Robert Hollemayal was sent to the area. Hollemayal came across a manlike creature standing in the road. He stopped his unit and hollered at the creature twice. On the second time the creature charged at him. The creature ran off into the swamp when Officer Hollemayal fired his gun at it. In the mean time, more phone calls were coming into the Police Station from motorists reporting a hairy manlike creature. Next morning motorists reporting a hairy manlike creature. Next morning channel 7 News was covering a large manhunt. the channel 7 News helicopter spotted a large hairy creature running in the swamps. The creature was described by channel 7 News as wide at the shoulders, covered with black hair as it ran on two legs into the dense swamp black hair as it ran on two legs into the dense swamp thickets not to be seen again.

1975 report
Polk County, Florida. Several witnesses near Green Swamp at Polk City.
15″ tracks found in orange groves. Boy claims he hit a Sasquatch carrying an armload of corn on a dirt road. Woman saw it in her back pasture , said it had long flowing hair on head and shoulders,ran crouched over, and faster than a horse.

1975 report
Miramar, Florida, Kim Dunn, Jan.23 1975
Dunn, a rookie policeman, reported seeing Skunkape loping across a road at the edge of town.

1976 report
Grove City , Florida June
Charlotte County Deputy Sheriff saw Skunkape appearing to try to catch fish in shallows at edge of pond. It remained hunched over.

1976 report
Ft. Meyers, Florida. June 6, 1976
John Holley , 43 , North Ft. Myers, Florida, his brother Bill and a friend. Driving on dirt road, Rt. 31 in the evening , saw an ape in a clump of pines about 10 yards from the road, standing upright, about 6ft. tall, long black hair. Deputy Warren Vallier found tracks in wet dirt 2-3 ” deep, crossing ditch to fence . The tracks were sent for study.
Holley saw it walk away into woods with long strides.

1976 report
Grove City, Florida June 15, 1976
Tom Williams is a Deputy Sheriff . Had spotlight on large animal bent over in pond, drinking or trying to fish. IOt loped off into brush on two legs 4-5 ft. high. Hairy all over, hissed and growled but seemed non- aggressive.

1977 report
Delroy Beach , Torry Pines. Feb. 1977
Man with CB radio reported that ina dense wooded area called Torry Pines a few miles from Delroy Beach at 8:30pm a large, hairy , upright 7ft. creature jumped in front of his car, then disappeared. Police Lt.
Lorenzo Brooks said there were several reports in the same week, all the same descriptions. First one on golf course west of town, the course superintendent told County Animal Regulation Director John Street, that he saw a creature down , drinking from lake near second par, creature was 7ft. had black shaggy hair.

1977 report
Port Richey, Florida Feb. 16 or 17 1977
Moon Lake area, near Port Richey, Florida . Saw three creatures come into their yard. Faces like gorillas, hairy all over, largest 10ft. tall or more, eyes reflected red. they left three sets of tracks 22″ , 17-18″ and 8-10″ their were several sighting. One creature shook Wilson’s trailer. Neighbor named Percy saw one i late January, and school children saw one from the bus in the early morning. Police saw tracks and chased ine. The Big one laughed like hysterical man.

1977 report
Ft. McCoy, Florida, Ocala National Forest, Oct. 1977
Rev. S.L. Whatley , 67 , was cutting firewood off of Hwy 19 , drive down dirt road and saw creature 7 1/2 to 8 ft. hairy creature. Dark but lighter than black, not much hair on arms and none on face, which was flat, with a flat nose and deep sunk eyes.Standing in middle of palmetto bushes. Whatley is Pastor at Ft. McCoy Baptist church. Parishioners say he issober and level headed. Rev. Whatley was getting ax from truck when it left.

1977 report
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Aug. 1977
Wiggins says his uncle, a police corporal with 17 years experience, was driving Alligator Alley on the out skirts of Ft. Lauderdale, towards Ft. Meyers, when he hit a Skunkape doing considerable damage to the car.
He said it towered over the car, had a bad smell, and left hair and blood on the car, which could not be matched. He lost his job, but stuck to his story and later was rehired.

1978 report Jan.
Venice, Florida Mike Corridino newsman
Corridino says he has logged 78 Skunkape sightings in the past 2 years. Refers to 18″ footprints found where rabbits were killed in barn; 9ft. “hairy man” seen by a busload of people headed for the Everglades;construction crew site in Scrubby Pinelands awakened a Skunkape in the early morning , with their heavy equipment. It ran shrieking into the swamp. Venice resident s saw a pair of apes frolicking outside the city limits.

1979 report
Jacksonville , FL. Feb. 25 1979
Four motorists near Jacksonville, Florida, stopped with mechanical problem on interstate 95, motorists told State Troopers of encounter with 8ft. hairy white humanoid that went through underbrush like a tank.

1980 report
Lake County,Florida, May 1980
In a story about Altoona footprints (June 1980) , Sgt. Dee Kirby, Lake County Sheriff’s Dept. ,quoted as saying”Just last month someone spotteed a huge, hairy creature crossing the main highway near the two of Eustis, that’s only about 10 miles from here.” Also quotes district fire ranger RIck Morgan as saying the creatture was spotted recently near the Everglades , and “The last report I heard, someone saw it crossing a main highway in Ocala Forest.”

1981 report
Bardin, Florida - many witnesses
Group standing out near a church scattered when something described as Immense and ape like approached . Story from Palatka, Florida was picked up by National wire service.

1982 report
Bardin. Florida . Rand Medlock and Ronny Cone.
Medlock saw a thing come out of the woods and walk 30 ft. in front of his car. It was big and hairy and looked like a bear, but had a pug nose and walked upright with its arm swinging, just like a man, it looked sideways at them and kept walking. It went back into woods slapping pine saplings out of the way like they were nothing. Tracks on hill bigger than Medlock’s size 13’s and stride more than he could stretch. He is 6′2″

1984-85 report
Bardin, Florida
Guide states that some residents of Bardin, near Palatka claim to have seen a half-ape /half-man creature measuring over 7ft. tall.Pacella phoned several newspapers but could learn only that Bardin residents did report such sightings to police between 1984 and 1985 . Bardin borders on Ocala National Forest.

1993 report
Art Dandridge, Titusville, Florida , Jan. 5 1993
Ten milies south of Titusville, Florida, Dandridge, a Lockheed Systems manager at Kennedy Space Centre was driving SW on SR 407 , a mile past I-95, when he saw something lurching around on a bridge ahead, hit brakes and just missed approx. 6ft. figure, entire body bristled with dark hair, seemed favoring left foot, turned car ,watched it about 30 seconds then left. Phoned police on car phone at 8:04pm

1993 report Jan. 5
10 miles south of Titusville, Florida
Two miles east of Dandridge sighting, 8:30 pm driving north on Tulsa Blvd.something up ahead stepped into lightss. Maybe 7ft. ,long arms and legs, hairy, and taking slow wide steps, almost in a crouch, not anything like a bear, more like an ape, seemed to ignorevehicle. Leitner called Police, did a u-turn,but it was gone, area by road is forest, entrance barred by spikey palmettos.Jeff Leitner is a Nasa engineer, Michelle Leitner and daughter ,Cassandra 8, were also witnesses.

1996 report
Apalachicola State Forest, Florida. Jason Valenti
The following story was written by Jason Valenti whose life was change after a close encounter described below. At the time of the sighting Jason was studying theology at a seminary to become a minister.A couple of years after his experience Jason moved to North West Washington state to study and do field research in this area. I’ve known Jason for about a year now and can truly say he is tenaciously sincere in his pursuit to have another encounter with what dramatically changed his life, in his own words…..

In April of 1996 , a former business partner and I were coming back from a meeting in Pensacola, Florida on a week night, heading for home to Largo ,Fl. We left Pensacola around midnight. We arrived in Tallahassee approximately 4:00am . I stopped and asked a policeman at a convenient mart to give me directions to a road that would take us from interstate 10 to U.S. 19, so that we could avoid the rush hour traffic that we would have encountered later 8in the morning if we had continued via the interstate. Approximately 15 minutes into the ride out of Tallahassee, going south bound on a road that bordered the east side of Apalachicola State Forest is where this experience took place and I was traveling on the wrong road but the right one to have this experience. I had just reached down to turn off the radio, because the stations were out of range for good reception,when I saw something on the right side of the road. At about 200 yards is when I first saw it and we were traveling at about 55 mph. I immediately took my foot off of the accelerator and “covered: the brake in case it was an animal that might move onto the road. My first impression was that it was a small deer or a dog, like an Irish setter or Cocker Spaniel, because of the light color I saw. I then clicked my high beams on and this thing lifted its head from a downward position to look our way. It was squatting behind the top of a pine tree that had fallen in the forest. The tree was perpendicular to the road and right up next to the road. My guess is tht it might have been picking through something like a bird’s nest. In the next moment, at about 100 yards, she stood up and put her hands in front of her face to block my headlights and that got my attention immediately because they looked so human . I remember seeing a dark purple coloring to the pads of her fingers and thumbs, which was also on her nose. What I could see of her face was just for a moment and it seemed she had a terrified expression. I had a couple of clear shots where I saw that here mouth was open and I even saw saliva glistening from the headlights. Her coat of hair was blond in appearance, at least in the lighting of my headlights. It definitely was not like fur. It was patchy and I could see her white skin in places where the hair was sparse. Her head seemed unusually small for the size of her body and was set low in between her very broad shoulders, almost as if she didn’t have a neck. Her face was like a cross between a chimp and a pit bull, sloping forehead and a mouth that stuck off of her face with no chin and I could clearly see skin around the eyes, forehead and cheekbones. I couldn’t see any color to her eyes,but they glowed like a cats eyes (orange reddish) when light is shown in them and they were very large in diameter. She did have a classic hour glass figure. Very small waist in relation to chest and hips. And it really was amazing how big her hips were, about as wide as her shoulders. Not very much body fat, in fact she seemed very defined in her muscles. I remember seeing straitens of muscle in her forearms, upper arms and shoulders. Her arms weren’t really big, just very defined. When she was walking backward, I noticed that her gait seemed to have a waddle to it. As if she were squatting a bit and knock kneed , king of like how Groucho Marx would do that goofy walk, but just backwards. I’m 6′4 , and I know she was at least 7′ maybe closer to 8′.
As I was coming to a complete stop,just a few yards past her, we were so close to her, that if Denis had had the window rolled down, he could have reached out and grabbed her arm. That’s how close we were! I passed her at about 20 mph before we stopped. As we passed her, Denis got a view of her that I didn’t get to see since I was driving and the topper on the back of my truck was blocking any view I could get through the rear window. He told me that a few seconds after we had passed her, as he was looking through the passenger window and witnessed her leaping from a standing position approximately 20-30 feet horizontal, 10-15 feet vertical and then landing into a full blown sprint through the sand pine forest. The reason Denis had such a good view of this was because my rear taillights were illuminating the forest from having the brake on, and sand pine forest in Florida don’t have much undergrowth over 2 feet high and the branches on the tree don’t start until around 20-30 feet off the ground. So, he said he had a very clear view of this creature, he also told me that he had never seen anything run that fast!

1997 reports
Big Cypress National Preserve , July 1997

There were two sightings on this July morning in the Big Cypress. These two witnesses,who live near each other, have homes within the Preserve because their properties are “grandfathered” in from before the area became federal government property as a National Preserve. Thus, their home–and their routes to work– are surrounded by pristine Everglades landscape . The first witness was Mrs. Jan Brock a well known real estate agent whose office is in the Everglades City Hall building. It was some time before she finally consented to be interviewed , as she had become jaded by the Florida media attention paid to her sighting. She described a tall, robust biped covered with shaggy dark-brown hair, She also described a whitish or lighter-colored area on its chest. She said that, despite its size, it walked with a certain fluidity, and was certainly not a bear. She has seen may bears on and around her property . She has also hunted in Africa, and is well acquainted with all kinds of wildlife. Mrs. Brock readily admitted that she believed in the existence of the Skunkape . She could only describe what she had seen, she said, not what it was.

The second witness was Vince Doerr, and he was also driving south to work on the same road a few minutes after Mrs. Brock’s sighting. He was going at about 25 mph when he observed the entity crossing the road from east back to the west several hundred feet ahead of him. When he reached the crossing point, Doerr stopped his truck and observed the entity from the roadside as it walked northeastwards and then eastwards into the swamp. At one point, he shouted at it, and it turned and looked towards him. Mr. Doerr , a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer in Germany, was chief of the Ochopee Fire Control District, a Collier County agency and the largest rural fire district in Florida. he always has a 35mm camera in his District truck to document road accidents and firers. he had grabbed the camera as he got out of the truck and he took a photograph of the entity as it walked westward into the swamp. The entire sighting lasted about 4 minutes. The photograph below was taken by Vince Doerr Moments after the entity crossed the road.

2004 report
From the Orlando (FI) Sentinel: Woman says ’skunk ape’ stood up beside highway
By Linda Florea/Sentinel Staff Writer, Posted November 20,2004

Lakeland– Urban legends are supposed to be legends and that’s all. But if you ask Jennifer Ward about the Florida Skunkape , she will tell you it stepped out of the mist of myth and into reality. ” I never though anything like that was out there before,” Ward, 30 said Friday, “but I know there is now.” Ward’s encounter with the hairy creature came in August, about a week after Hurricane Charley, along a rural stretch of Moore Road as she was driving home from a friends house. Her daughters were asleep in the back seat and it was approaching dusk . “I noticed something in the ditch. I looked over, and I guess it noticed me. It rose up,” she said explaining that the animal had been crouching when she first saw it. ” Its eyes went from serious, maybe it was getting frogs–it was focused on something,” she continued. “when he saw me, he was as surprised as I was. I slowed down to almost a stop; I didn’t stop because I was scared .It was almost dark, but I could see it and get a good look” Ward said the creature was 6 to 8 feet tall and covered with hair about 2 inches long. There was white around the eyes, but she not notice a nose or ears. She said the lips were full with texture of a dog’s paw pad. Its hands were drawn up next to its body. At first, Ward only told friends and family about what she saw. She acknowledged that it took considerable time for her to decide to go public.

2004 report
Sept. 6 , 2004 near Ocklawaha , central Florida on edge of Ocala National Forest

Not wanting to be identified, a woman and her son were awakened by something tapping on her window. Something terrified the dogs , three pit bulls, which are usually aggressive.”Me and my son went to check out the noise and there was a smell like something was dead, when we seen this huge manlike creature ruin into the woods. We were both scared. This thing was as tall as our orange tree, about 8 ft.

Distance - about 20 yards
color-brown
on two legs the whole time

We’ve seen some of the history of sightings and descriptions of footprints; the following is a brief report on a foot print found in Georgia , that fits the descriptions of tracks that are thought to be of the Skunkape. The difference with this track is that it displays dermal ridges. Dermal ridges are like fingerprints.
Jimmy Chilcutt is with the Conroe, Texas police department, he is one of the leading fingerprint experts in the world , who has studied dermal ridges on both apes and man. he has publicly staked his reputation on the fact the track casts he has examined point to the existence of an unknown primate. When track casts show fine detail, Chilcutt has found that the dermatoglyphs are so unique and so detailed that it seems impossible to fake them. The dermal ridges are too widely spaced to be human and also too fine and too consistent to be faked. Only primates have dermal ridges on the hands and feet.
On November 15 , 1999 Jimmy Chilcutt received from Dr. Jeff Meldrum a plaster cast footprint. The cast was made by Deputy James P. AKin of the Pike COunty Sheriff;s Office in Pike County, Georgia in 1997 from an impression found in the Elkins Creek flood plain. The cast was 15.5″ long and 8.5″ wide. The Elkins Creek casting was examined over a period of several months and I observed several areas on the cast where primate dermal ridges appeared.

Richard Greenwell 
1942-2005 

                        TRIBUTE
                                   Tribute to a friend and colleague…………….                                    

      News of the passing of Richard Greenwell was a shock to his many friends and colleagues, for it came about suddenly. Unknown to many, Richard was terminally ill with Multiple Myloma. Richard was one of the best in his field of research. The research of Cryptozoology or search for hidden and unsubstantiated life forms. Dedicated to his research to the end, Richard was on expedition in a rugged and remote part of the Siskiyou wilderness forty miles from the nearest outpost. Supplies and team had to be transported by vehicle on a dirt road over thirty miles to reach the trail head to begin the final leg of the expedition. On the last leg of the expedition, six hundred #’lbs. of supplies and special equipment had to be carried in on mules for a full days hike over some very difficult terrain.

During this last leg before arriving to their destination deep in a canyon it was obvious Richards health was failing him. After setting up base camp Richards health began to deteriorate rapidly. Richard true to his nature with a strong constitution refused to abort the expedition at the advice of colleagues even knowing that the situation was worse than he let on, for Richard knew he was dieing. Ironically Richards most successful expedition was to be his last. This was one of several expeditions over a period of nine years to this area to gather evidence to support the possible existence of unknown bipeds of which we refer to as ” BIGFOOT.” This particular area of study had been lucrative indeed. In the past Richard and team members had experienced unusual vocalizations, tree knockings, rock throwing, theft of food from their supplies and unusual bipedal human like foot prints left by nightly visitors to their camp.

Evidence of the existence of something unknown to science. Sounds, behavior and footprints too large in their dimensions to be attributed to man or any known animal. The 2005 Siskiyou expedition had been even more successful in this area than the past. After broadcasting certain sounds through out the canyons as attractants in this strategic area things began to happen during the first night. There were visitations of something as yet to be identified every night for three weeks there after. During one of the nightly visitations one of the creatures reached out and from the surrounding vegetation, pressed the tent down to feel the occupant inside. As fate would have it the unknown entity contacted the only person who had no experience in this field but “kept his cool” during the whole encounter.

This area of study, is off the grid for communications. It would be weeks before the mules would be back to take the team and equipment back to the trail head. It would take at least a week on foot to get help in case of an emergency. Dedicated to his research, with all this activity, Richard refused to abandon the expedition, inspite of his grave condition. Weeks later when it was time to abandon camp, Richard was to weak to make it with out assistance to the top of the canyon wall where the mules were waiting. To make things worse, night had fallen by the time Richard and the equipment were loaded on to the mules and the team had to negotiate the rugged mountains in the dark. To add to all these complications, one of the team members broke an ankle helping Richard scale the steep canyon wall where the mules were waiting to begin this arduous trek out.

Richard was transported to the University of Berkeley Calif. then home where he passed away two months later. Richard was the secretariat of the [ISC] International Society of Cryptozoology from it’s inception in 1982 to 2005. Richard helped found the society along with Dr. Roy Mackal……….. and  Bernard Heuvelmans………… the convention for the society was held at the Smithsonian Institute. In 1982 Richard was a member of Dr. Mackal’s second Congo expedition to search for evidence of the possible existence of living dinosaurs.               

Note for the skeptics……in spite of having thousands of dollars in night surveillance equipment nothing was documented except an image picked up by thermal imaging which shows something standing up right with what appears to be part of the upper head , torso , arm, and hand. There are all kinds of difficulties and complications in trying to film wild life in the wild at night or day for that matter, especially when that wild life is secretive and remains hidden in the surrounding foliage. Not to mention camera placement even if their was something to pickup. Or cameras that are powered by batteries that are powered by solar panels that weren’t working because their hadn’t been enough sunlight in an unstable environment. On the 1999 Siskayou expedition we had night cameras mounted for a solid month. Out of one months filming, when the cameras were working we filmed one rabbit, though the evidence of elk, deer, coyotes, and was every where and at least one cougar that let his presence be known.                                   
 

 Richard Greenwell was an English  naturalist, explorer, historian, and writer. He attended boarding schools for  two years where he learned Spanish fluently. In the 1950’s while growing up in  England, he embarked on a life long interest in natural history under the  tutelage of aquatic biologist John Clegg, curator of the Haslemere Museum. He  joined the Air Training Corps [ATC] the youth cadet division of the Royal  Air Force [RAF] and later personally located and documented Japanese world war  two aircraft wrecks in Papua New Guinea. After attending college for two years  in London.

Richard moved to South America for six years where he.about the  ecology and wildlife of that continent.  In 1976 he returned to academic  studies at the University of Arizona where he was research coordinator of the  Office of Arid Lands Studies in the College of Earth Sciences. In 2001 he was  appointed research associate in mammalogy in the Dept. of ZoologicaL  Collections of the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson. Beginning in the  1970’s, Richards interests in natural history and zoology, particularly as  related to mammals, began to focus on ecology, zoogeography, systematics and  taxonomy, paleontology, human and primate evolution, and primate behavior.

For  many years, he maintained his own colony of Amazonian tamarin monkeys, and he collected many zoological specimens from around the world for universities and  museums. His natural history library numberd almost 2,ooo volumes. In the  1980’s, his zoological interests expanded further to include the field of  Cryptozoology, the scholarly evaluation of evidence for animals that are  reported anecdotally but remain scientifically unverified. In 1982, he and 14  other scientists from around the world founded the International Society of  Cryptozoology [ISC] at a meeting hosted by the the U.S. National Museum of  Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. Richard was appointed its  permanent Secretary and Editor of Publications. Over the years, he organized  many ISC conferences, and, as editor of the scholarly journal Cryptozoology,  he was personally responsible for the editing and publishing of 376  manuscripts. Richard also participated in, or led, numerous Cryptozoology  expeditions to various remote parts of the world, including China, the Congo,  and New Guinea. He also led numerous scientific field projects in the Siskiyou  wilderness of Northern California in a continuing attempt to determine the  possible existence of the supposed large bipedal entity known as the Sasquatch  or Bigfoot.

Richard called himself a slave to objectivity and the scientific  method, and his Cryptozoological activities, whether they involved theoretical  work or fieldwork, followed that same philosophy. He himself was the author of  several books and over 100 scholarly and popular articles. He also was once a  columnist for Britain’s BBC Wildlife Magazine. A member of numerous scientific  societies, Richard was also a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical society  [London] and the Explorers Club [New York]. He served on both the Expeditions  Committee and the Youth Fund Committee of the Explorers Club, and was also  chairman of its Southwest Chapter.

After his experiences in almost 30  countries on five continents, Richard had little patience with braggarts and  charlatans. He preferred the company of thinkers, but only those who, like  himself, were modest about it. Although much of his life revolved around  scholarly pursuits, and he was once awarded an honorary PH.D., he himself  never attempted to obtain an earned doctorate. He was always to busy doing  research, spending time with his family and friends, traveling, reading,  lecturing, and writing. He was also a quest on dozens of television shows and  documentaries. Although he’ll be remembered for his curiosity, his creativity,  his integrity, and his good will, Richard’s most memorable attribute may have  been his sense of humor, and he was particularly fond of double entendres and  linguistic twists. There were no enterprises or experiences-even adverse ones, when he himself was the victim-in which he didn’t somehow inject humor.

He  once complained to a doctor in the hospital that, although he’d been taking  his seizure pills daily, as prescribed, “nothing ever happens- I haven’t had a  single  seizure!”.
    Richard loved the swamps as I do. While trekking in the Big Cypress swamp in south Florida, Richard said to me, now I know  why you come down here, this place reminds me of the Congo. Richard had the mind of a scientist and the sense of adventure of a child.

During our investigation of  the Turner River and Burns Rd. swamp ape sightings I was following Richard  through the swamp when Richard turned back to look at me and motioned to be silent, he whispered to me he had seen something white moving rapidly through the trees ahead of us, then informed me there are reports of white Bigfeet. After  a couple of more hours sledging through the swamps we had a closer look at what Richard had seen earlier, it was a white tail deer. At the time Richard could only make out the tail of the deer standing straight up as it moved quickly through the trees.

I know Richard always anticipated in seeing something unusual but was realistic in his final evaluation of the data. I once stumbled upon what appeared to be an unusual human like foot print in a swampy area and I was elated. Finding Richard I brought him back to the spot. Richard simply turned the leaves over and exposed claw marks at the front of the toes. The track was simply that of a large bear with an over lapping print. Richard had quick wit, a great sense of humor and may have been hopeful but he was serious in his research.

Often I would see a light in his tent till wee hours in the night. Asking him why he was up so late, Richard replied “I read three hours every night, that’s why I know so much” Indeed he did for he could elaborate on just about any subject extensively. With Richard their was never a dull moment. Having a photographic mind with a degree in Psychology, and a great sense of humor Richard could always flash back in time to share some special moments or inject something humorous that was always up lifting.

One of the most amusing memories  was in the Siskiyou wilderness one morning when a bear came into camp. I heard our utensils being moved around. I looked through the screen of my tent to see a large bear making some noise. Awakened in his tent, whose opening was facing my blind side and thinking I was making the commotion, Richard hollered “Ronnie knock it off”, when I informed him that it wasn’t me, it was a bear, he hollered, why didn’t you tell me, as he immediately came out of his tent in his shorts with pistol at the ready.

After yelling and throwing rocks the bear refuse to budge. Only after firing a shot into the ground did the bear flee into the woods, from my line of view I could see the bear take off into the woods with Richard in hot pursuit in his shorts, pistol in hand pointed skyward, only to see a moment later Richard running out of the woods in his shorts pistol pointed to the sky with Bear in hot pursuit!       

Thanks for the memories,  I will truly miss sharing the adventure!…………….Ronnie Roseman