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Editor
The Tampa Tribune
P.O. Box 191
Tampa, FL 33601-0191

Dear Sir:

I dislike beginning a response to Florida Frank’s diatribe about Cryptozoologists and the Skunk Ape with a quotation, but when a thought so eloquently states an issue that it is more fitting to cite than to devise new words, or to paraphrase, it seems appropriate to do so. Consequently, I will open my response with Henry David Thoreau’s observation that “there is a chasm between knowledge and ignorance which the arches of science can never span.”

In the case of Florida Frank, I’m afraid that the distance between what he knows and what he doesn’t is too great to bridge.

Aside from characterizing myself, and fellow Cryptozoologists, as “bogus investigators” out to sell a book, I take personal offense at this remark, as I am not, as of this writing, published on the subject of cryptozoology. I take even greater issue with his characterizing the reading public as “ever-gullible”.

His ignorance of the facts becomes abundantly clear at the beginning of his tirade. The coelacanth was indeed pronounced “extinct” for 65 million years by mainstream science prior to its discovery in 1937 until it was found off the coast of South Africa. It has again been located in another part of the Indian Ocean off Indonesia recently – not India as he states. The Yahi issue, while a fascinating anthropological story, has absolutely nothing to do with cryptozoology – Homo sapiens, regardless of their tribal affiliation, are not cryptids.

As far as the “odds of a breeding population of gorilla-sized mammals living in complete secrecy” in Florida is concerned – the same was said about the gorilla-sized Bili Ape in the Congo until it was “discovered” recently. (Oddly enough, in an area of Central Africa much like our Green Swamp albeit much larger than our local marshland habitat).

The “lack of credible evidence” he asserts is only the result of his unfamiliarity with the facts. There are indeed, credible tracks, hair, and eyewitnesses all over the State. Our database of sightings includes accounts from 187 people since 1945 – six of them posted by law enforcement personnel who are ostensibly trained in observation skills and several of them by clergy. Granted, there are no known corpses — even after 15 traffic accident incidents involving the big hairy guy (again using our database as an information resource), but that may be due to resilient anatomy and a rush of adrenaline on the creatures part as well as traveling with his relatives.

In this case I am reminded of a story about two hunters who encountered the beast appearing in Charlie Carlson’s book, “Weird Florida.” In this story, J.D. (one of the hunters) confesses to shooting what he thought was a bear. But upon closer examination, he and his companion found that it “was more like a man-ape” than an ursine. When J.D. and his companion returned to the site shortly thereafter with three other fellows, the “bear” had been dragged off by one of its own. To his deathbed, J.D. asserted that the creature “weren’t no bear”.

But, that’s right, according to Florida Frank no hunter has ever reported seeing a Swamp Ape in Florida.

Another inspection of our sighting database reveals that hunters have made 16 reports. Wrong again Frank!

Florida Frank also states that there are only 100 Florida Panthers roaming the state. If that’s so, then over 10% of their population have been decimated in the last two months as road kill. The State Museum of Natural History has “processed” at least one of these endangered animal skeletons per week for the last 10 weeks as road-kill to be added to the museum’s zoology archive. Do you really think that there are only 100 of these animals running loose here?

It would seem that Florida Frank likes to accept “official” data as “credible” without checking up on his sources like a good journalist would. It’s amazing what a little research effort will reveal about government boilerplate claims!

And while I’m on the subject of corrections, my sighting was in the suburban Orlando area – not Lakeland as the original story stated. Moreover, suggesting that a local anthropology professor who merely was the only one to return a phone call is an authority on the subject is a bit touchy as well. Especially when that “expert”, at least according to students of hers that I’ve spoken to, believes that the work of Louis Leakey, and his protégé’s Jane Goodall and Dion Fossey, was a waste of research. This opinion puts this “authority” outside of the anthropology science mainstream as far to the right, as I am to the left, with my Swamp Ape research.

As a matter of fact, Dr. Goodall didn’t have academic credentials when Leakey dispatched her to Gombe to begin her monumental work with chimpanzees there. She is on the record by virtue of her broadcast interview on NPR as believing that a North American Primate does, in fact, exist. So, perhaps I am more mainstream than I have previously suggested.

Perhaps Florida Frank should stick to what he knows and seek out the elusive three-eyed bass in Lake Parker.

So, I shall end my reply by paraphrasing former Secretary of Commerce, Luther Hodges: If ignorance paid dividends, Florida Frank could make a fortune out of what he doesn’t know.

Scott Marlowe, APCA, ISC
Adjunct Instructor of Cryptozoology
Florida Keys Community College

Pangea Institute Fellow
Cryptozoology Steward of the Year (2005)
Phi Theta Kappa

I agree - that is why there have been thousands of eyewitness reports across the U.S. for a very long time. This guy is clueless.

As with most skeptics he took the easy road in forming an opinion by first discarding/disregarding all evidence concerning the subject, and then sitting back and demanding someone show him the evidence.

Florida Frank needs to stick to writing columns about subjects within his grasp; such as TeleTubbies or Sesame Street.

While I believe in “balanced reporting” Florida Frank’s letter is a collection of mis-information and half-truths veiling “anthropoid arrogance”.

Among other issues, I happen to have a track from the Ocala National Forest that was presented to the Florida Museum of Natural History that is from a Skunk Ape. Not being among the museum’s perview of study, a curator there subsequently gave the casting to Pangea Institute to use in our studies of the creature in the hope it would help. While I have seen a number of “tracks” (notably three-toed) that are almost certainly fakes, this one (and others I have seen here) appears to be genuine. Of course, I’m not the expert in “reading” this particular phenomena that Jimmy Chilcutt is (An FBI forensic scientist living in Conroe, Texas who has pronounced many Bigfoot tracks “genuine”), so perhaps I am mistaken. But, knowing that podiatrists and medical professionals have better things to do than to plant anatomically accurate impressions in the most remote areas of the state in the hope that some unsuspecting layman will come along and discover it is an absurd notion.

More to the point, many credible eyewitnesses, like Jennifer Ward, Pat Edwards, Doug Tarrant, Ben Mills, Bill Arnold — to name a few, don’t have book sales or publicity engagements on their collective agendas. And, my work hasn’t been submitted for publication — although I am considering it.

The anthropologist that Geoff Fox quotes in his story considers the work of Louis Leakey to have been a wasted research (so I’m told by one of her former students), and by extension that includes the work of his protoges Dion Fossey and Jane Goodall, most in the field regard their discoveries as monumental. So, I guess, Dr. Goodall’s public statements that she believes that a North American primate exists doesn’t count for much. Sorry, but IMHO you can take Dr. Goodall’s professional opinion to the bank.

And hunters do encounter the animal regularly — one such encounter just happened at Three Lakes WMA a few weeks ago. If Frank had taken the time to read Charlie Carlson’s book “Weird Florida”, a collection of unusual stories from around the state, he’d have known that such sightings have been going on in Florida for decades if not centuries. JD, who reported that he and another hunter killed a Swamp Ape accidedently years back thinking it was a bear. “It weren’t no bear — it was more like a man” was JD’s deathbed assertion. (Charlie, by the way, isn’t a cryptozoologist).

As for my hairy, bipedal friend, I can’t deny the evidence of my own eyes, having seen the creature three times now — regardless of what narrow-minded skeptics might think I will continue the quest.