The Nature of Things
Sightings of `Swamp Ape' Should Be Noted With Skepticism

By Tom Palmer - tom.palmer@theledger.com

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The most recent sightings of the so-called "swamp ape" are intriguing. But, to quote the late cosmologist Carl Sagan, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

The extraordinary claim is that there is a large mammal unknown to science roaming the wilds of Florida.

If you're not skeptical, you should be. Here's why.

For one thing, Florida is not some remote area of the Tropics. It has been pretty well explored for centuries.

Florida is a fairly developed state, crisscrossed by highways.

Even when the Florida panther was down to the last couple of dozen animals, they were still getting hit by vehicles. Animals may evade science for a time, but the chance that they could evade scientists and speeding cars is slim. Road kills are a useful, if grisly, research tool.

I have to blame pop culture, especially movies, for fostering the idea that such creatures might exist.

My favorite example is "Son of Kong," a 1933 sequel to "King Kong."

Among the logical questions arising from that movie, the most obvious concerns the whereabouts of Queen Kong. King Kong was powerful, but he was incapable of giving birth.

Where wildlife survives, it is because there is a breeding population of them, not a single specimen. That's how things work, myths and fancy to the contrary notwithstanding.

Does this mean there are no undiscovered creatures somewhere on the planet?

Certainly not.

Scientists working the Tropics continue to find previously unknown (to them anyway) species of birds, frogs and other vertebrates.

Odd creatures are pulled from the sea as well.

However, you don't have to go that far afield.

Scientists at Great Smoky Mountain National Park began in earnest in 1998 trying to fill in gaps in the park's species list.

They felt there are 100,000 species in the park, 90 percent of which they had not found.

By 2003 they had come up with 334 species that were new to science and 2,192 species previously unrecorded in the park. Scientists expect to find more.

Many of these new species were insects.

In 2002, scientists reported the discovery of a new species of centipede in New York City's Central Park.

Here in Central Florida, scientists have discovered new species -- mostly ants and beetles -along the Lake Wales Ridge in Polk and Highlands counties.

Entomologists have told me there's an even chance of finding new insect species somewhere in my yard.

So what did the people who reported these skunk apes see?

Beats me.

Wildlife misidentifications are common. Most people aren't trained observers and they make mistakes.

I wouldn't make fun of them, though.

Instead, I would hope they continue to be interested in their surroundings and continue to look.

...to quote the late cosmologist Carl Sagan, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

The extraordinary claim is that there is a large mammal unknown to science... .

If you're not skeptical, you should be.

So, you people from Florida are Crazy after all.

For one thing, Florida is not some remote area of the Tropics. It has been pretty well explored for centuries.

Florida is a fairly developed state, crisscrossed by highways.

Even when the Florida panther was down to the last couple of dozen animals, they were still getting hit by vehicles. Animals may evade science for a time, but the chance that they could evade scientists and speeding cars is slim. Road kills are a useful, if grisly, research tool.

Gee Belle, I hope you're not just figuring that out.

And Tug, you're right. We should remain skeptical. However, I do take issue with a couple of statements that the writer of that article made.


I'd like to see the author validate that statement. Sure, most of Florida has been trampled upon by a white man at one time or another, but does the writer mean to suggest that Florida has been explored in its entirety, all the time? Does he think that something like a sasquatch would just sit in one spot all the time like some unique trinket just waiting around to be found? We are talking about a mobile species here, not some landmark.


Pardon my French, but whoop-dee-s**t. So what? Most of the sightings I've investigated involved a sasquatch crossing a road. If anything, having these highways criss-cross the state has only increased the chance of anyone here having a sighting.


Talk about a straw man! If we are to accept the author's reasoning then there are absolutely no sasquatch anywhere. And just what the hell does he mean about them evading scientists??? Seems to me that they've evaded damn near everyone else as well.

Perhaps if the author of this article were to actually interview some of the witnesses who have seen these creatures in this state, he might change his viewpoint. Or am I to believe that no one else ever lies about bigfoot sightings with the exception of people in Florida? Puh-lease! Once you've looked these people in the eyes and seen their conviction and the depth of their sincerity along with the fact that they are still trying to come to terms with what they saw, it becomes very hard to simply discount what they have said with a blanket, "I just don't buy that they're in Florida" statement. :rolleyes:

Pardon my French

Florida is a fairly developed state, crisscrossed by highways.

I have to blame pop culture, especially movies, for fostering the idea that such creatures might exist.

Then the wack-jobs take over and try to make the sightings into a BF-like creature.

I have a hard time believing a "Skunk Ape" or Bigfoot exists in Florida.... But that does not mean it’s impossible...

...I personally think Florida is an excellent place for an undiscovered primate to live undetected....

...Hot, chest deep water in every direction. An occasional hardwood hammock that happens to be next to impossible to navigate through due to the undergrowth and spider webs that make a blinding curtain of webs...

I have a hard time believing a "Skunk Ape" or Bigfoot exists in Florida. I actually have a hard time believing it exists anywhere. But that does not mean it’s impossible. Folks who think Florida is over developed need to drive 20 miles away from the coast. Florida is one of the top 3 cattle states in the US. Or at least used to be. The State is largely unpopulated as far as the spread of humanity goes. Everyone is hugging the coast.

I personally think Florida is an excellent place for an undiscovered primate to live undetected. Most places are flat out impossible to get to without an airboat. And those are not exactly stealthy. If it were a little more dry like some other States or northern Florida, I think I would be out looking more. But the fact is the everglades SUCK for looking around. I just don’t do it anymore. It really is an exercise in misery. Hot, chest deep water in every direction. An occasional hardwood hammock that happens to be next to impossible to navigate through due to the undergrowth and spider webs that make a blinding curtain of webs. It really sucks, and yet it’s so beautiful. There is nowhere else like it in the world. It is truly a unique environment on this Earth. Folks, who never left their hotel during vacation and actually went into the wilds of Florida, have no business writing about the unlikelihood if such a creature as the Skunk ape.