Inside The Skunk Ape Research Headquarters

By: Brandon Rosado // Contributing Writer

Dave Shealy’s family has been in the Everglades for generations. They first settled in 1891, built the first local schoolhouse and spent the next handful of decades giving swamp tours and renting out camping spots. The Shealy’s domain over the Everglades, though, is just a fraction of time compared to how long the notorious Skunkape has purportedly stalked the swamplands.

Centuries ago, local Native American groups shared stories of giant figures that roamed the wilderness. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth-century, Floridians of all kinds reported sightings of a tall, hairy creature, the earliest being in 1957. Reported sightings of the Skunkape became so frequent that in 1977, state legislators introduced House bill 1664 (H.B.1664), which made it illegal to “take, possess, harm or molest anthropoid or humanoid animals.” (Ultimately, the bill did not pass.)

So, what is Florida’s Skunkape? Standing anywhere between six to eight feet tall, the Skunkape is, according to its believers, a relative to the Pacific Northwest’s (and more famous cousin) Bigfoot. 

It derives its name from its distinct smell, which is described as a combination of “skunk, moldy cheese and goat dung.” (That by Shealy.) It is a bipedal primate that maintains an omnivorous diet and leaves behind footprints of at least eighteen inches. Most amazingly, it has (generally) eluded the public eye for years.

Dave Shealy, owner of the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, had his first encounter with the Skunkape in 1974, when he was 10 years old. Ever since, he has dedicated himself to hunting the creature. He bases all his operation out of his headquarters, located deep within the Everglades at 40904 Tamiami Trail in the unincorporated community of Ochopee, Florida. 

A lifelike Skunkape statue adorns the outside of the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, which doubles as a gift-shop, adventure-tour, petting-zoo, and museum hybrid. Inside, you can find Skunkape t-shirts, hats, shot glasses, and magnets, as well as a variety of alligator products. 

Paying customers get access to Shealy’s menagerie of exotic animals, including pythons, baby alligators and turtles. Shealy and his staff also specialize in guided airboat tours of the Everglades, which are available for booking at the Headquarters, alongside a cabin or chickee hut for camping on the Trail Lakes campground.

Shealy’s focus remains on the elusive Skunkape, however. When not giving tours, he and his brother, Jack, investigate sightings called in to him by locals, or bait the area around his 30-acre property with lima beans and sit in tree stands, waiting for the Skunkape to appear. 

Shealy’s dedication has paid off; in the years since he first saw the Skunkape as a 10-year-old boy, Shealy has encountered it thrice more – bringing his total Skunkape sightings to four.

During his second sighting, Shealy was able to photograph the creature striding across the swamp. This photograph catapulted to the forefront of skunkape hunters in Florida. Indeed, Shealy describes himself as the “Jane Goodall of Skunkapes,” saying that he is “the state and county expert on the Florida Skunkape, and have been for years.” 

Shealy has even published his findings in a field research guide available for the low price of $4.95 at his gift shop.

The recognition of being the premiere Skunkape expert has propelled Dave Shealy into national exposure, landing him appearances on “The Daily Show,” Discovery Channel’s “Finding Bigfoot,” “Inside Edition,” and more, guaranteeing his spot in the public eye much more than the Skunkape ever has.