Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
Skunk Ape – Location 25.8926, -81.2798
If the State of Florida ever selects a mascot to represent all weird things in the state, it would unquestionably be the Skunk Ape. In both size and appearance, this elusive humanoid is Florida’s equivalent to Bigfoot. In response to thousands of sightings, the State Legislature in April 1977, introduced a bill (H.B.1664) to protect the elusive man-ape which in part, stated, “Any person taking, possessing, harming or molesting any anthropoid or humanoid animal which is native to Florida, popularly known as the Skunk Ape, or doing any act reasonably capable of harming or molesting such animals…”
State Representative Paul Nuckolls wanted to make it a misdemeanor to capture or harass a skunk ape. “I’d hate to see someone catch one and put it in a circus or in a zoo,” remarked Representative Nuckolls. The bill never passed into law but that hasn’t stopped discussions about trying it again.
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: According to the American Public Power Association, this critter is responsible for the most power outages.
A: Pokemon = N29° 29.426' W81° 48.951'
B: Unicorns = N29° 29.416' W81° 48.951'
C: Squirrels = N29° 29.406' W81° 48.951'