The following report was been submitted by Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research member Danielle Auclair, who is a Bigfoot, cryptid & paranormal investigator in southwest Florida.

Southwest Florida - Possible Skunk Ape Encounter

Location: Estero, Florida - between Coconut and Williams Rd. next to Estero Bay

Date: August 2006. Time: 10:30 pm

I am an investigator with the Phantoms and Monsters Fortean Research Team. My first experience with a possible skunk ape was in August of 2006, on a hot and very humid summer night. I was walking my dogs along a creek, on the back part of my development. To the west is a huge and undisturbed tract of jungle/forest and bay area, with lots of islands, and plenty of food sources.

Suddenly, I caught the scent of a strong skunk, mixed with sulphur. I had never seen a skunk in the area, ever, so I was startled. Right after that, the smell of a raw fish that was freshly caught and gutted. Then the very distinct scent of monkey/ape feces. My first thought was what is a monkey or ape doing out at night eating a raw fish in a creek?

I was nervous for my dogs, who were unusually quiet, and staring into the darkness at whatever was near the creek, eating the fish. They always barked at skunks when I lived in Connecticut, but now they stayed totally silent. I feared if it felt threatened, it may charge out and attack. I couldn’t see more than 10-15 feet towards the woods and water area where I felt the smells were emanating from.

It was a very tense feeling, as I knew something was in the dark watching me, under the lights from the street.

I pulled my dogs back from the area, and walked home quickly, trying to process what had happened.

A few years before this, I had been to Monkey Jungle in Miami. The ape and monkey feces/body odor is one you never forget. It’s very unique. This scent was very strong, and exactly what I had smelled at Monkey Jungle.

So, I was left feeling like I had experienced what many describe down here as a skunk ape, possibly fishing behind my development for things in the creek, and I had come upon it as it was eating that night. I hope to someday see one in daylight and gather evidence. For now, my investigations continue.

Respectfully submitted,
Danielle Auclair