New Skunk Ape Photo
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on October 19th, 2006
Cryptomundo reader longrifle48 tipped me off to this story this morning. Thanks Mike! While this article says that the photo was taken about five years ago, it also says that the encounter happened in the late-1990s.
By Jeremy Cox
Naples Daily News
Thursday, October 19, 2006
During its brief, sporadic emergences from the wilds of Southwest Florida, the skunk ape has a habit of showing up just long enough to get its picture taken.
Each new image of a blurry biped reinvigorates an old debate. Is there really a Bigfoot in the Everglades or is it just a prankster with a gorilla costume and a lot of patience?
Memo to skeptics: One of your own has switched sides.
All it took for Judy Caseley to transform into a believer was to see the skunk ape for herself — twice. During the second encounter, also witnessed by her sister, Caseley managed to snap a few pictures, one of which is now on display at a museum in Everglades City.
The photograph was taken about five years ago on a hot summer day — in July, if Caseley had to guess — on Loop Road in Big Cypress National Preserve.
In it, a creature strongly resembling a gorilla appears to stride casually on two legs through a field of thigh-high grass on the edge of a cypress forest.
Harsh shadows generated by the sun being directly overhead obscure the humanoid creature’s eyes and most of the details of its torso. The body appears to be covered by bushy, brown fur except for the face and the left “paw,” which is bare up beyond the wrist as if it were wearing a rubber glove.
After Caseley got the pictures developed, she did what any reputation-conscious person might have done — she hid them away.
The skunk ape mystery deepens with this purported photograph of the Bigfoot-like creature taken about five years ago on a hot summer day near Loop Road in Big Cypress National Preserve. Chokoloskee resident Judy Caseley withheld releasing the photograph until now for fear it would damage her reputation.
“I didn’t want people to think I was crazy,” said Caseley, who was a fifth-grade teacher at Everglades City School at the time and has a master’s degree in elementary education.
“People are like, if they don’t see something they don’t believe it. I can understand that because I didn’t totally believe in it.”
Caseley swears she isn’t joking about her experiences with the skunk ape. She hasn’t manipulated the picture. And, yes, she acknowledges the story sounds too strange to be true even when it’s coming from her own mouth.
Skunk ape sightings, though rare, have been reported throughout Florida for more than six decades but never have been verified scientifically. Descriptions of the animal match the one in Caseley’s photo: hulking, part-human, part-ape.
The legend inspires jokes, mostly, like this one from a biologist who was shown Caseley’s photograph: “It looks like she got a good picture,” said Larry Richardson of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, adding a comedic pause, “of a guy in a gorilla suit.”
Biologists fly over Big Cypress three times a week to track panthers. Dozens of cameras equipped with motion-detecting sensors snap pictures of wildlife throughout South Florida. It is unlikely, bordering on impossible, that a creature standing 7 feet tall would escape the notice of credible observers for so long, Richardson said.
“This is a species that needs protection,” said Dave Shealy, a campground owner in Ochopee who is perhaps the skunk ape’s biggest advocate. “It’s no joke.”
Shealy runs what he calls the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters at the campground and sells T-shirts emblazoned with the ape’s image and DVDs that bring the legend to the small screen.
The creature in Caseley’s picture appears to be a skunk ape, Shealy said, “but I don’t want to make presumptions. I want facts.” To get the facts, Shealy plans in April to head to the spot where the ape was spotted to look for tracks and signs of bedding.
Caseley, 49, has all the evidence she needs.
The New England native owned restaurant and food brokerage business in Connecticut before moving more than a decade ago to Chokoloskee, an island on the edge of Everglades National Park.
There, she pursued teaching and nature photography, which so far has earned her several awards. She gave up teaching to run ecotours on her boat, a venture that put her into closer contact with the wilderness that drew her to the southwest corner of Florida.
That changed one afternoon in the late-1990s. Caseley was sunbathing alone on a beach on Cape Sable when she caught a long look at a skunk ape. The creature was partially hidden behind some brush and, to her amazement, spoke in a guttural voice.
“Cheetah-tom-oh, cheetah-tom-oh, cheetah-tom-oh,” the creature said over and over again.
Frightened, Caseley fled on her boat. But she returned a few weeks later and found footprints in the sand where the skunk ape had been standing.
A few years later, she happened to have a Nikon camera with a 300mm telephoto lens and a witness to back up her claim. She and her sister, Janet Meeker, had stopped along Loop Road where Caseley hoped to capture a panther on film.
“I just saw this thing across the field on the edge of the woods,” said Meeker, who lives in Foxboro, Mass. “I had never heard of a skunk ape before. … It looked real to me where I was.”
Meeker jumped inside the car, pleading for Caseley to do the same. This time, Caseley stood her ground as the dark figure plodded clumsily through the brush.
Assuming what Caseley and her sister saw wasn’t something they imagined at the same time, could it have been someone in a costume? Caseley doubts that because it was extremely hot that day. Furthermore, it would be foolish to dress up in an animal costume in Big Cypress, one of the most popular hunting areas in South Florida.
“People out here carry guns,” said Shealy, who also dispels the costume theory. “A lot of people would be jumping at the chance to shoot a Bigfoot or a skunk ape. It wouldn’t be a safe thing to do.”
Caseley hopes to sell 8-inch-by-10-inch copies of the photo for $175.
Recently, the photo went on display with tamer subjects Caseley has photographed, such as panthers, white pelicans and dolphins. She is one of three local photographers featured in the gallery at the t="_self" href="http://www.florida-everglades.com/evercty/museum.htm">Museum of the Everglades.
Several museum patrons have questioned whether what they’re seeing is real, said Martha Schramm, a museum assistant.
“They ask if it is real, and I throw it back at them and ask, ‘Do you believe it is real?’” she said. “I’m pretty neutral on that.”
PODCAST: Hear an in-depth report about a reported sighting of the legendary skunk ape in southeast Collier County by a former school teacher, who came forward with what she says is photographic evidence of the elusive creature.
Judy Caseley’s thoughts regarding comments on here photo are here: Skunk Ape Photographer Speaks Out
Judy Caseley’s offer to take a Cryptomundo reader to the location where the photograph was taken is here: Skunk Ape Photographer’s Offer To A Cryptomundo Reader
Update: The photographs have been removed from Cryptomundo at the request of the copyright holder, Judy Caseley. The photographs can still be seen on the Naples Daily News website.
- Similar Phenomena:
Fake
Pleasant enough landscape, pity about the guy in the gorilla suit. Maybe the camera didn’t have zoom on it
Note the fuzzy-wuzzy teddy bear look, narrow shoulders, short arms, and the already commented on shiny Platex glove. Really bad.
The face reminds me of the old Ernie Kovac “Nairobi Trio” shtik.
This really is one of the worst costumes I have ever seen, and yeah …is he actually wearing rubber gloves!?!
I was wondering what happened to the gorilla costune Jim Belushi wore in the Eddie Murphy movie “Trading Places”. Looks like somebody got a good deal on Ebay.
This is just sad.
If you are going to create a fake photo, can’t you at least go to the effort of making it look kind of realistic? Anybody seeing this photo of the guy in the gorilla suit and the rubber gloves would just laugh at it. By anybody, I mean anybody over age 8.
This says it all “Caseley hopes to sell copies for $175.”
One of these days some fool in a costume is going to get shot and it will not be the shooter’s fault.
An insult to the intelligence, not even slightly humorous, and not as sexy as the Johor ape-chick.
Hmmm, this particular skunk ape seems to have a very rubbery complexion.
Dammit! Here we go again!
Biscardi is already on site…
D
That’s a really nice gorilla suit. Do you think he’d let me borrow it? I don’t have a Halloween costume yet.
Why wouldn’t someone intent on photographing animals in the wild be using a camera equipped with a telephoto/closeup lens?? She should have been able to focus right up in this things’s face.
And don’t even try to tell me that this Judy Caseley lady wasn’t part of this sad hoax. Did she actually think anyone at all would mistake rubber monkey for a live animal!? And all the bs she’s letting out in the above just makes this so much more embarrasing.
Plus it looks like it has a Darth Vader face, so maybe it is a skunk ape from the planet Playtex.
purrlcat,
You’re missing the point. The photographer/hoaxer didn’t want you to be able to see this in detail. Because then you would know instantly that this is a fraud. $175 eh? Well if they sell even one copy they’ll be able to break even on that discount gorilla costume.
It looks like the “King Kong” suit from “King Kong vs. Godzilla”.
First, for jayman, I love the Nairobi trio and they were definitely real, not cryptids.
Second, the rubber gloves only prove that skunk apes are humanoid and wash their dishes.
To be honest, looks like it was photoshopped to me, too much distinction around the head and shoulders with the background scenery. The shadow and light doesn’t match on the supposed creature and the trees around it. IMHO
While I agree this is a hoax. I would not be so fast to label Caseley a fraud. Although her story does seem to be a bit intricate, and hard to accept. What with the voice noises and all. She may have been a pawn.
There is a person that lives down here who thinks that by hoaxing tourists and others he can further his cause for the Skunkape. I will not use his name, as I do not need to be sued, and I am sure Cryptomundo does not need any trouble either. However this person does have a habit of being ‘around’ when this sort of thing happens in Big Cypress. Most of the time it is probably he himself in the suit. On other occasions he has a friend do it, as to set up an alibi for himself. Either way it is fairly common knowledge among the locals. However, I have to admit that any joke on the tourists is a fun thing! LOL
With that said it may be a good idea to hold back judgement on this lady, for a little bit anyway.
Oh, yes I have some swampland for sale real cheap! Obviously somebody was setting her up. Gorillas are in Africa, not Florida.
Amazing. This suit is even worse than the one ‘Boston Rob’ wore on Sci Fi Investigates.
I agree. Very domesticated. Washing dishes?
Somethin’ stinks here and I don’t think its a skunk ape!
thats just the sci fi investigates show in florida. the costume is about as good.
Well, besides being an obvious fake, wasn’t the forward facing pose rather convenient? Lol. steveg3474 made an excellent point, one day, some moron is going to try and pull a hoax and wind up with a backside full of buckshot. Not that I advocate hunting wildlife, but after it happens to 2 or 3 hoaxers, maybe we’ll actually get photos of an actual skunk ape, not driven off by stinky rubber in the hot Florida sun.
I was just sharing this with my daughter when she pointed out that the words cheetah-tom-oh sound like some words in our choctaw language. I can speak choctaw, but am not good at seminole, only fluent enough to make myself understood (barely).
Someone needs to see if there are words for this phrase. In choctaw it partially translates to you (chi) white (english) person (tamaha).
“People are like, if they don’t see something they don’t believe it. I can understand that because I didn’t totally believe in it.”
And she has a Masters in elementary ed.? ’nuff said. JR
Steve 3474 is right. This foolishness is going to cost someone their life sooner or later. There is a dangerous situation starting here people, and we need to get that across to these fakers before it’s too late.
oldbutnotstupid,
I agree! Someone is going to get killed. The thing is it will probably take more then one to make these people stop their silly games.
I hate these fake photos people take. It’s crypto-terrorism, is what it is.
Hey skunkape hunter, I live in East Naples, and know mister hoaxer (that you refer to). This whole thing is another attempt to draw in tourist dollars (why else post it at the start of snowbird season?)
I agree, the woman might not be in on the hoax, however she does run an eco-tour boat ride out of Everglades City and would benefit from any skunk ape seeker business, much as bozo and his campground!
However, it is startling photographic proof, that there is a genuine man, in a genuine gorilla costume, stupid enough to pose for pics in extreme rifle country!
Have a great florida day!
I Believe, I Believe.
It seems from reading crypto reader comments, that very few skunk ape seeking tourists will be flooding my corner of sw Florida.
You’ll get much better in focus pics of bikini babes on naples beach, than swatting skeeters and side stepping gators, seeking pics of mister hoaxer and his monkey suit!
Craig, I’ll let you know of any followup on this story.
Boston Rob????
From the longshot I immediately thought the figure was photoshopped in, just looks cookie-cuttered into the landscape.
But upon viewing the blow-up (oops, there goes the NSA alarm) it clearly looks like a guy in a gorilla costume.
Yeah, that looks like a shiny rubber glove.
But what the heck is up with the mouth - bottom lip?
SMiles
Can anyone imagine how foul that gorilla suit must smell. Oh! I guess that’s why it’s called skunk ape.
Cutrer: ‘Boston Rob’, the guy playing ’skeptic’ on Sci Fi Investigates. He got his nickname when he was on Survivor. That’s how I first came to remember him, and that’s what stuck in my memory. So to me he’s always gonna be the obnoxious ‘Boston Rob’.
I know, I was saying that could this be him in the suit. Stopped watching Survivor after his season.
It looks like someone dressed up for Halloween a tad bit soon to me.
Cutrer, Oh, ok.
I bet the guy in the suit was sweating his butt off.
I hope they did’t spend to much $$$ on that costume for a hoax.
And I bet he stunk really bad too .
Hi, Folks..
Having trouble with email today, but I can send a message this way…on this silly photo.
It looks like a gorilla costume. I think I’ve even found a similar one.
Note the light face in comparison to the body, the disruptive head hair pattern, no chest structures, and most indicative of all, the straight browridge line.
Sorry, this appears to be another distraction from the “real” Skunk Ape accounts and encounters.
If she had just shot this photo & then had run excitedly to the nearest newspaper (or to cryptomundo!) and claimed that she had a photo of a skunk ape, I would give her the benefit of the doubt & think that maybe she was the butt of a joke or the victim of a hoax.
But she didn’t. She waited five whole years, long enough so that nobody could run out immediately and search that area for physical evidence to corroborate the photo, and then she tried to cash in. The $175 8×10s are a dead giveaway.
“She gave up teaching to run ecotours on her boat” -
What better ad could you have for a South Florida ecotour: “Ecotours guided by the world-famous photographer of panthers and Skunk Apes! You may see one too!”
Outright humbuggery.
longrifle48,
Yup we are talking about the same guy. I am sure he has his hands in it. Looks too much like those other photos he released. Plus I would bet the farm they know each other, with her tour and all.
But maybe we need to come up with a better code name ? I mean Mr. Hoaxer could cover SO many people
I suggest GHG for Gator Hole Guy. I mean his silly claim that Skunk apes live in gator holes is comical. Have you actually seen the size of a gator hole opening ? Very small indeed. I just can not see a 6 or 7 foot ‘person’ living in one! Even the huge gators holes are tiny.
It would seem a bit strange if she, having spend more than a decade living in the area studying the wildlife, weren’t able to tell the difference between a living animal, and someone dressed up in what surely is one of the more foolish costumes!
By the way: “…the figure plodded clumsily through the bush”. If there’s one word I have never heard anyone use, in regards to the way sasquatch/ skunkape moves, it would be “clumsily”!
Well, what else is there to say? All of these hoaxes and television shows on investigations that “turn up nothing” are really beginning to bum me out. I was a firm believer in the Bigfoot phenomenon, and still have high hopes. Are we actually going to solve the mystery in my lifetime? I became a believer when I was 17 in Michigan and now I am two weeks shy of 50 in Arkansas. My “hot spot” is the eastern section of the Ouachita National Forest, west and north of Little Rock. I still have faith in this creature’s existence, but it is not from the televised expeditions and photos from websites, but from my own experiences of hearing and smelling what I believe to be Bigfoot creatures.
Oh, about the Sci-Fi documentary last night: It was enlightening (not encouraging), and it was nice to see some new territory (have seen many shows filmed in Oklahoma and Texas lately), and it was good to see Autumn again (as this brought back some fond memories of her now defunct investigation show–sorry but can’t remember its name). But all in all, it was disappointing and it ended the way most of us thought it would: no evidence or proof. Better luck next time?
I first met gator hole guy in 1998 and immediately got on the wrong side when I told him the cast he was showing me appeared to be a modified gator track! And after looking at an 11″x16″ pic of his many so called skunker pics, looked like a guy in a suit, I wasn’t too welcome at skunkape HQ after that (imagine that). If you all recall the Turner Road incidents of 1997, Peter Byrne proved it was a guy in a gorilla suit. Turner Rd. is like a mile or so from skunkape HQ Iit is very sad that so many people are in such dire need for attention, and/or other motives, that they hoax, fabricate and outright lie about what they’ve seen. These phony pics will certainly get someone killed in the big cypress, and how many authentic sightings are buried by these obvious staged accounts?
But a word of caution for any crypto faithful that refuse to believe the fake it obviously is. If you venture onto Loop Road, I advise you go in daylight and stay in your vehicle. Loop Road winds through dense thickets southeasterly within the big cypress. There are HUGE ALLIGATORS ALL OVER! Many cottonmouth snakes and plenty wild boar, all of which aren’t too friendly most times! Other than that have a great time, tiptoeing through the tulips!
“She waited five whole years” is put forth as some kind of affirmation that this is more truthful, because she didn’t rush to the media with the photo.
Why is the assumption made that this is a valid statement, in the first place.
It could merely be a convenient detail added to “back date” the story, and make it “sound” better.
Oh my, there’s hope, I agree with Loren Coleman! For all we know, that phony pic was taken last week, and posted just in time for snowbird season! I guess I might have to go to Everglades City and seek out this eco-tour woman. Planning on backwater fishing this weekend anyways! Might be amusing to check her out.
I could tell before I enlarged the pic that it was a fake, reminds me of the original monkeys/apes in the original Tarzan movie.
I bet that guy in the suit smells like a skunk. In essence these jokers are making fun of the Cryptid community. I say tar & feather them, put them on a pole and run them out of the swamp.
At least he was safe from mosquitos in that thing.
FAKE. Not even a good one at that. Maybe they should have photoshopped a real gorilla into the photo.
Yet another very unconvincing fake.
Hey, gorilla suits need protection from poachers and those who would take advantage. Like the guy who captured a baby gorilla suit and tried to extort Loren Coleman for money.
Interesting new article about the Florida skunk ape. But I totally agree with your above replies, it looks like another hoaxed sasquatch photo, which really stinks. Like another person posted here, it’s like internet terrorsim when people got the gall or embarresment to hoax researchers who are realy trying to real sasquatch evidence or photos etc.
I’m not even going to waste my time debating on whether this is real or fake. It is fake. Footprints do not remain in the sand for weeks at a time. You would think that after so many hoaxes, if people were going to continue attempting to pull them off they would have learned from all the failed ones by now that you have to do better than a guy in a suit with gloves.
I agree with Lordofshades. Maybe after a few hoaxers are shot, then we will get a legit photo. Maybe we should stop hunting Bigfoot for now and hunt the hoaxers. Nobody cares if they are hunted to extinction. I don’t mean kill them though. Just trap them and hold them until they admit they are idiots and then release them out into the middle of nowhere.
Whole-heartedly agree with all the posted comments. Nothing else needs to be said.
All this picture reminded me of were the scenes in the original Pink Panther, as David Niven and Robert Wagner (and Peter Sellers too?) were running and driving around Paris or Rome in gorilla suits - especially as the drove around in the tiny convertibles.
Now we only have the poor online full photo to look at and from your sites close up, its a guy in blue jeans and top half of a ill fitting monkey suit.
But what is most plain from applying software to the poor quailty full frame picture is the white vehicle with glass, which is behind monkey suit Man.
It’s a pity the cropped close up edits most of this out. But look just above the rigt hand elbow area on the cropped close up.
It’s as far as I can take the close up, althought I doubt the area between the palm of the right hand and the waist band area is a hint of tyre.
The more I look at the close up, it is a Guy in a poorly fitting fur coat and a Monkey Mask.
Well even bad advertising gets you known , as they say.
Most of those florida crackers around the Big Cypress and Everglades City are not known for politeness.. This eco tour chic has no idea the ridicule she has heaped upon herself with this bogus pic and story! But she soon will.
It’s photos like this that continue to make people doubt the existence of bigfoot/skunk apes. It’s an obvious fake. My high school students could have done a better job using Photoshop.
This is totally real. Really the character Schlock from that great old John Landis movie.
But this one is a bad fake. I can see a zipper.
there should be a contest on who can make the best fake skunkape photo
A fake - either that or skunk apes have cleverly evolved to look like the British ventriloquist Keith Harris working on a new dish washing routine with his puppet Cuddles the Monkey.
“New Skunk Ape Photo - Is there really a Bigfoot in the Everglades or is it just a prankster with a gorilla costume and a lot of patience?”
Well, looking at the historical evidence *and* this latest photograph, there appears to be *both*!
Has it ever occurred to anyone that skunk apes might LOOK like dimestore gorilla costumes?
I can’t imagine what historical evidence labyrinth is talking about. I don’t know about the rest of Florida, but there has never been any verified sighting of a skunk ape in the Big Cypress preserve, nor any hard evidence to indicate the existence of the critter, other than witness accounts. Not even a verifiable foot track. And none of the pics from that certain campground owner looked even close to real. I live here within 15 miles of the Big Cypress.
I am not saying that there aren’t any here, just saying I never heard of any evidence other than what witnesses claim to have seen. Certainly not as I experienced in Washington state, back in the 1970’s to 80’s.
Well I posted earlier on this set of photos and at the time said there is plainly a white vehicle present in the background behind the Monkey Suit Man.
Well after being bugged by what I couldnt help thinking reminded me of a tyre being present (see my above previous post , although at the time I thought I was wrong about it being a tyre.) I worked more with software on the close up picture of Monkey Suit Man. And you can imagine my suprise when while cleaning and enlarging the photo to try and better see the tyre shape I noticed that there is a entire white boat behind Monkey Suit Man and a person in a window of the boat looking at Monkey Suit Man from behind him.
It is a white boat with a cabin on the right of the picture and in one window is someone in a blue shirt or top looking out. And the tyre shape that bugged me I am of the opinion are tyres placed along the hull of the boat to protect it againg the bank , landing stage or mooring.
In fact it is obvious that the low resolution full view picture and the highly cropped close up are two separate different photos. Having gone to the Naples Daily News website and seen their posting and pictures I am of the opinion that there are at least three seperate photos of Monkey Suit Man.
Also that someone has deliberately tried to mask the precence of the boat in the background both by heavy cropping and altering the colours and brightness of the photos.
I by e-mail on 20/10/06 asked the editor at Cryptomundo to pass on a e-mail to Loren Coleman about my thoughts on these photos and two pictures from me of the cleaned up photos.
I have also E-mailed another separate source about my opinion on these photos.
The statements here are my opinions and I am placing them here for other members of this site to read.
It is a real shame that people have nothing better to do than to try to fool others, trying to get their lame 15 mintues of fame. Not even a good attempt.
Always seems to be a camera handy in the wilds when these things are seen, but not one is seen by the many hunters carrying firearms. Bad sense of humor, fraud and money often drive people of low moral character.
“Nachzehrer Says:
Has it ever occurred to anyone that skunk apes might LOOK like dimestore gorilla costumes?”
The old rolling on floor routine! Confucius say, “dope in cheap monkey suit garner many comments!”
longrifle48 said, “I can’t imagine what historical evidence labyrinth is talking about.”
By “historical evidence,” I refer to all the reports of skunk ape sightings over the years.
Sorry, I could have been clearer in my post (but it was really not meant to be taken too seriously, anyway. My main point and intent was just to mock the guy in the gorilla suit photo).
No worries labryrinth. Sorry I did not intend to sound too serious either. But since those Turner River rd. pics from 1997 taken by the british tourist of also a bonehead in a gorilla costume, the Big Cypress has been called a skunkape hotbed by certain wannabe experts. Loop road runs south of hwy 41 winding its way southeasterly and eventually returns to hwy 41. There is no waterway there deep enough nor wide enough to support any boat. The pic location is at the west edge of loop road one of the few dry meadows within the forested area. But people see what they see I guess
The creek runs south of the road and is full of huge gators. Strange enough, there are a few houses of seclusion minded floridians along the forested path. Mister gorilla suit could have come from any of those backyards! Have a better florida day. Plenty to see and enjoy here in spite of bucketheads wearing monkey suits 
Rigged.
Ahh, to paraphrase the great Carlos Mencia, these Skunk-Ape hoaxers are DEE-DEE-DEE!
Hmmm….she’s absolutely right you know. The species of people in horrible ape costumes is terribly endangered. Thankfully, there are still those out there who are willing to keep this species alive and well by donning suits themselves.
God Bless America.
Idiots.
The first comment here is “fake”. I wonder how many Cryptomundo articles which show new photographic evidence have as their first comment “fake”? A good proportion I’ll bet!