A Florida man has spent nearly his entire life hunting what he claims is a real-life monster lurking in the swamps of the Everglades, a six-foot, ape-like creature known as the Skunk Ape.
Dave Shealy says he first saw the beast in 1974, when he was just ten years old, and the encounter has since shaped his life's work.
The mysterious creature, covered in hair and reeking of decay, has long been part of Florida folklore, with reports describing it as half-man, half-ape.
'My first encounter was with my brother. We were hunting, and he said, 'Hey, look, there's a skunk ape,' Shealy told Daily Mail. 'We had heard about skunk apes from our families at dinners. It was a big topic of conversation.'
Standing in long grass, Shealy's brother lifted him under the arms so he could see the creature, he same one that had filled their family's folklore for years.
'We were maybe 300 feet from it, and it was walking through the grasslands,' Shealy recalled. 'It was walking through the grasslands. And that's what got me started as a researcher. I've been doing this a while.'
The sighting came at the height of Skunk Ape hysteria, when reports of a stinking, hairy creature terrorizing Florida communities made national headlines.
Believe those who tell you it exists, more than those who tell you that it doesn't. I am a witness.
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