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534 encounters
15 August 1962 Murdoch, Charlotte County, Florida Class A #445

Boy Scouts have sighting while camping at Quednau Ranch

The witness was on a Boy Scout campout in the Murdoch area near Tampa. On the second night after midnight during an initiation outing with another scout, they saw a very large figure running bipedally into the woods at high speed while giving a high-pitched scream or shriek. A strange smell was noted but was attributed at the time to sulphur water. The troop reportedly never returned to the area to camp.

Partial sightingScream
March 1961 Hernando City, Citrus County, Florida Class B #28678

Man recalls a possible up-close nighttime encounter on Gilchrist Island

Late at night while returning to his Boy Scout camp on an island, the witness took a shortcut through a clearing and approached what he thought was a stump to about six feet away. The shape stood on two legs revealing a broad, hair-covered bipedal figure that stared at him briefly before walking then running away through palmettos with loud crashing footsteps. He returned to camp frightened and was told by the adult leader to go back to sleep.

Full-body sightingSilhouetteFootsteps
1955 Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida Class A #13034

Early evening sighting by residents on the Hillsborough River

In the mid-1950s the witness and a companion were watching a drive-in movie from across the river after dark. They heard something behind them, turned, and saw a large hairy creature backlit by a lamplight. They fled immediately without looking back.

SilhouetteFull-body sightingUnidentified sound
1940–1949 Lake Wales, Florida #1f8ff750-46df-47ab-9d7d-fec2c6137c69

Cryptid sighting near Lake Wales, Florida (1940)

An older woman wrote that she and her uncle set traps for disappearing oranges and caught a tiny hair-covered naked man speaking an unknown language. Police put him in an orange crate, then the house was pelted with sticks, stones and oranges by dozens of similar beings until he was released. A later police worker recalled the crate incident.

Full-body sightingRock throwingObject throwing
1918 Florida #a1037b54-6796-41ce-9ea4-e7ea731aa4d8

Sasquatch sighting in Florida (1918)

In 1918 a boy was reportedly abducted near the pond. Community members pursued, recovered the boy, who was scratched up, and captured the creature. The teller notes the creature did not seem intent on harming the boy and describes it as acting lonely rather than aggressive.

Full-body sightingHistorical accountFolklorePossible misidentification
1884 Florida #a1037b54-6796-41ce-9ea4-e7ea731aa4d8

Sasquatch sighting in Florida (1884)

In 1884 a rural community living around Ocheesee Pond lost livestock and heard eerie nighttime calls from the water. After children were frightened by a hair-covered figure, residents formed a posse, captured it, and transported it chained to the governor in Tallahassee. The governor could not place it and sent it to the nearby Chattahoochee hospital, where it died and was buried under later construction.

Full-body sightingVocalizationHistorical accountFolklore
1800–1979 Barden, Florida #1f8ff750-46df-47ab-9d7d-fec2c6137c69

Sasquatch sighting near Barden, Florida (1800)

The guest described a longstanding local legend of an 8 to 10 foot tall skunk ape that lounges around and is often seen carrying a lantern. Stories go back to the 1800s and include chasing people off horses, with a revival around the late 1960s. A store owner later admitted dressing a boy in a monkey costume to fake some sightings, which leaves earlier reports unresolved.

Full-body sightingPossible hoax
Wednesday, March 8, 2000 Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida Related account #747

Sasquatch sighting near Edgewater, Florida

A group including a witness sitting around a bright fire pit at night heard something large moving through the woods and saw a single red eye reflection about six and a half to seven feet off the ground.

EyeshineFootsteps
October of 1999 Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida Related account #747

Sasquatch sighting near Edgewater, Florida

The next October a witness found a family dog bleeding from the stomach outside the home and the dog later died after veterinary treatment.

BFRO YEAR: 1998 & 1999 Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida Class B #747

1. loud vocalization sounds woke sleeping couple. 2. family dog found injured

In the fall of 1998 two witnesses were asleep at home when they were awakened around 10 p.m. by two extremely loud vocalizations, first a growl and then a rising scream that felt as if it was inside the room. Their two dogs were too frightened to move, and a check outside found nothing.

GrowlScream
for 2 days Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Odor near Lake Helen, Florida

A horrible stench lingered outside the house for two days while the retriever refused to go outside even in daytime.

OdorAnimal behaviour
Date unknown Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Howl near Lake Helen, Florida

The witness heard a deep powerful howl from the front of the house while front and back doors stood open.

Howl
Two nights later Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Door or window contact near Lake Helen, Florida

Two nights later the family heard the back door shaken and banged then the front door handle rattled while the protective dog stayed silent.

Door or window contact
During the month of October 2013 around 8 PM Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Vehicle contact near Lake Helen, Florida

The teenaged daughter sitting in a parked car had the car violently shaken and pushed down from the front without seeing the cause.

Vehicle contact
In April Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Scream near Lake Helen, Florida

While watching a loud movie, the witness heard a scream over the sound near the master bedroom.

Scream
off and on Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida Related account #40901

Odor near Lake Helen, Florida

Witness and daughter repeatedly noticed foul odors near home, strange night noises, and waking simultaneously without known cause.

OdorUnidentified sound
Maybe five years later Hosford, Wakulla County, Florida Related account #67296

Structure or nest near Hosford, Florida

About five years later the witness and a relative found a rectangular ground cover of freshly snapped palmetto fronds inside a palmetto clump at midday.

Structure or nest
BFRO YEAR: 2002; 2007 Hosford, Wakulla County, Florida Class B #67296

Vocalizations heard and nests found in remote part of Ochlockonee River bottom

Around 2002 the witness was hunting alone from a tree stand in river-bottom woods during an afternoon hunt. After a prolonged silence and faint squabbling sounds, just after dark he heard a loud piercing call immediately followed by a deep prolonged growl, repeated three times at closer range while a deer moved past. He called out, scanned with lights with his rifle ready, saw nothing, then left quickly when a boat arrived.

VocalizationGrowl
Later in the week Ormond Beach, Volusia County, Florida Related account #12068

Vocalization near Ormond Beach, Florida

A few days later the witness returned with another person, placed a cantaloupe on the broken tree, heard a loud wheezing like a startled boar, and later found the cantaloupe hollowed out with intact shell.

VocalizationProperty disturbance
During the days leading up to the encounter Perry, Fla, Taylor County, Florida Related account #28263

Odor near Perry, Fla, Florida

While hiking in the days before the main night, the group sometimes noticed a horrible foul smell.

Odor