An outdoor landscape photograph by Joni Hanebutt showing A Bigfoot statue in the swamp and Skunkape Headquarters in the Florida's Everglades National Park on Dec. 3. 2023. Captured from an asphalt parking lot in front of a green wooden building with signs reading "SKUNKAPE HEADQUARTERS" and "SHEALY'S", a dark ape-like Skunk Ape statue stands on a low platform in the center foreground. Four flagpoles flying American, Florida, and state flags surround the driveway, framed by a wooden fence line, green trees, and a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. — A Bigfoot statue in the swamp and Skunkape Headquarters in the Florida’s Everglades National Park on Dec. 3. 2023.
Credit: Joni Hanebutt / Shutterstock

Believe it or not, there are people still looking for Bigfoot, and some of them are in your neck of the woods.

Later this month, Safety Harbor Library is letting believers track the truth with the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Group.

Three weeks ahead of Halloween, the Tampa-based group is holding an educational presentation on the age-old conspiracy of bigfoot and the Florida skunk ape. The presentation will be afterhours at the Safety Harbor Library on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.

The all-ages event offers a presentation on bigfoot and skunk ape encounters and investigation stories showing off the organization’s evidence of footprint casts, strange physical evidence, the research groups findings and insights from years exploring across the state.

Founder of Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Group, Marie Dumont, has been researching bigfoot and the Florida Skunk Ape for seven years. Before her discovered love of following bigfoot all over the state, Dumont was a paranormal investigator for 30 years.

Skeptics may find bigfoot or skunk ape claims hard to believe, but Dumont told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay she wants the skeptics to keep an open mind to the possibility of the strange and weird that is out there.

“There’s all kinds of animals and insects and stuff that are still being discovered,” Dumont added. “There is a lot of evidence out there about Bigfoots and skunk apes, if you choose to look at it. But most people who are non-believers, are just set in their ways, and they’re not open to the possibility of us having Bigfoot and skunk apes in our state.”

There’s no cover for Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Group’s presentation at Safety Harbor Library on Saturday, Oct. 10.

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This article appears in Oct. 01 – 07, 2026.