1 00:00:05,213 --> 00:00:08,800 What you're about to see may be dangerous, illegal, unethical, 2 00:00:08,883 --> 00:00:13,221 petty, misguided, immoral, and most definitely stupid. 3 00:00:13,972 --> 00:00:15,932 But it's also all true. 4 00:00:16,891 --> 00:00:17,892 Sort of. 5 00:00:22,522 --> 00:00:25,025 This was my first time going to the Everglades. 6 00:00:25,108 --> 00:00:28,528 I'd heard tales about this mystical creature that lives out there. 7 00:00:29,654 --> 00:00:33,950 I didn't really believe it, but then I heard it. 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:38,329 I tried running... 9 00:00:43,001 --> 00:00:44,210 but it found me. 10 00:00:45,378 --> 00:00:47,797 I'm right there face-to-face with the creature. 11 00:00:50,133 --> 00:00:52,385 I realize I don't have any tools to dispatch the beast 12 00:00:52,510 --> 00:00:55,013 but a little gas station knife. 13 00:01:15,366 --> 00:01:17,786 I'm Travis. I live in Sarasota, Florida. 14 00:01:17,911 --> 00:01:21,623 I'm really just kind of a blue-collar guy. I do what I can to get by. 15 00:01:23,208 --> 00:01:25,251 I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia. 16 00:01:26,211 --> 00:01:28,338 I moved down to Florida in about 2017. 17 00:01:28,379 --> 00:01:31,257 I felt like I was drawn to this place, like I'm Sicilian, 18 00:01:31,341 --> 00:01:33,093 I don't know if it's like the color of the water, 19 00:01:33,176 --> 00:01:34,761 but I don't know, I felt like I was always, 20 00:01:34,844 --> 00:01:37,180 like, genetically destined to be here. 21 00:01:39,723 --> 00:01:41,601 Florida can definitely be hard to meet people. 22 00:01:41,684 --> 00:01:44,479 About 80 percent of the population is 60-plus. 23 00:01:48,983 --> 00:01:50,944 It can be hard meeting people your age. 24 00:01:51,485 --> 00:01:53,321 The only place I was able really to meet people 25 00:01:53,404 --> 00:01:55,657 and socialize was at the bars. 26 00:01:57,366 --> 00:02:00,537 You drink to socialize, and you socialize to drink. 27 00:02:00,829 --> 00:02:04,165 Hi! Hi. Cheers! 28 00:02:04,290 --> 00:02:07,585 You kind of find yourself in a cycle, and there's so many people you see 29 00:02:08,252 --> 00:02:10,630 that are kind of trapped. You don't want to end up like them. 30 00:02:13,925 --> 00:02:15,844 Like I said, there's not a lot to do here in Florida, 31 00:02:15,927 --> 00:02:17,137 really, if you're not drinking. 32 00:02:17,220 --> 00:02:20,431 So, I thought I'd try this sober bar called Manna Tea. 33 00:02:31,442 --> 00:02:33,945 'Cause it kind of offered like a dive bar atmosphere. 34 00:02:34,028 --> 00:02:37,240 You could still meet people and not have to be getting drunk all day. 35 00:02:37,656 --> 00:02:39,534 And that's actually how I found Roman. 36 00:02:48,793 --> 00:02:51,713 He's kind of like a rockabilly kind of guy. 37 00:02:52,255 --> 00:02:54,299 He's quiet. He's kind of a mystery. 38 00:02:54,382 --> 00:02:56,509 Hi, I'm Roman. 39 00:02:56,593 --> 00:02:58,511 I don't know if that's just because he's an Aquarius... 40 00:02:58,678 --> 00:03:01,848 -I'm an Aquarius. -...or that's just who he is. 41 00:03:02,223 --> 00:03:03,224 Kombucha? 42 00:03:04,767 --> 00:03:06,352 When I first met him, I was like, "I think 43 00:03:06,477 --> 00:03:07,896 that we're definitely gonna be friends." 44 00:03:07,979 --> 00:03:10,315 -I think... -That we are definitely gonna be friends. 45 00:03:10,982 --> 00:03:13,735 -You took the words right-- -Out of your mouth. 46 00:03:13,818 --> 00:03:14,986 -Yeah. -I do that. 47 00:03:15,570 --> 00:03:17,447 And then kind of bonded. 48 00:03:20,408 --> 00:03:21,409 Favorite incense? 49 00:03:21,492 --> 00:03:22,619 -Nag champa. -...champa. 50 00:03:23,912 --> 00:03:25,204 Favorite moon phase? 51 00:03:25,288 --> 00:03:26,915 -Waxing gibbous. -Waxing gibbous. 52 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:28,208 Holy shit. 53 00:03:28,291 --> 00:03:30,627 From there, the conversation just kept flowing. 54 00:03:30,710 --> 00:03:31,794 What's your go-to chakra? 55 00:03:31,878 --> 00:03:32,879 -Heart. -Same! 56 00:03:33,004 --> 00:03:35,965 -Do you think that plants can talk? -Bro, I don't think. 57 00:03:36,883 --> 00:03:38,051 I can hear them. 58 00:03:38,301 --> 00:03:39,886 Stop playing with me. 59 00:03:39,969 --> 00:03:41,221 I think we both bonded over 60 00:03:41,554 --> 00:03:43,932 -our love of plants... -What's your stance on ficus? 61 00:03:44,015 --> 00:03:45,558 -Underrated. -...and herbs. 62 00:03:45,683 --> 00:03:47,435 -Favorite tea? -Reishi-chaga. 63 00:03:47,518 --> 00:03:50,271 -Mixed with a little bit of local honey! -Local honey! 64 00:03:51,147 --> 00:03:53,024 -Mushrooms. -Check this out. 65 00:03:58,821 --> 00:03:59,822 Dude. 66 00:04:09,874 --> 00:04:12,126 Roman had set up these trips a couple times a year 67 00:04:12,293 --> 00:04:15,046 to go down to Big Cypress and look for the Skunk Ape. 68 00:04:17,298 --> 00:04:18,632 Skunk Ape? 69 00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:20,760 It's real. 70 00:04:20,885 --> 00:04:23,304 Skunk Ape, it's like a swamp gorilla, 71 00:04:23,388 --> 00:04:26,140 sort of like a Sasquatch of the Everglades. 72 00:04:26,224 --> 00:04:28,434 It lives in the swamp and smells like a skunk. 73 00:04:28,518 --> 00:04:30,186 Like a stinky Bigfoot... 74 00:04:31,646 --> 00:04:32,647 as the locals say. 75 00:04:32,730 --> 00:04:35,817 Well, it's supposed to be big, and hairy, and scary. 76 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:37,735 It's the Everglades' Skunk Ape. 77 00:04:37,819 --> 00:04:40,613 A search for the old legend of a South Florida swamp monster 78 00:04:40,697 --> 00:04:43,741 is getting new life. So, is it real or is it a hoax? 79 00:04:45,201 --> 00:04:50,290 I really think that the Skunk Ape is the bridge to the unknown, to God, 80 00:04:50,373 --> 00:04:55,420 to our true instincts, to our primitive purpose on this planet. 81 00:04:55,962 --> 00:04:58,548 I'm Connor Flynn and I'm a Bigfoot researcher. 82 00:04:58,631 --> 00:05:02,093 I came down to Florida to specifically hunt the Skunk Ape. 83 00:05:05,555 --> 00:05:07,348 If you're gonna be down here looking for Skunk Apes, 84 00:05:07,432 --> 00:05:09,017 this is what you wanna look for, 85 00:05:09,100 --> 00:05:11,269 -right here. It's the distinct four toes. -Wow. 86 00:05:11,352 --> 00:05:13,229 They're not as big as the Bigfoot. 87 00:05:13,313 --> 00:05:16,232 Instead of 800 pounds, they're more like three or 400 pounds. 88 00:05:17,525 --> 00:05:22,405 I'm Dave Shealy. I'm the lead researcher here at Skunk Ape Research Headquarters. 89 00:05:22,572 --> 00:05:27,035 My family moved to the Everglades approximately 1890. 90 00:05:27,118 --> 00:05:30,455 When I was young, people talked about the Skunk Ape. 91 00:05:31,289 --> 00:05:32,623 When I was ten years old, 92 00:05:32,707 --> 00:05:36,627 I was out hunting with my brother, Jack, and we saw one. 93 00:05:37,253 --> 00:05:40,631 About 100 yards away, it was walking across an open field. 94 00:05:40,715 --> 00:05:42,675 It looked like a man, covered with hair. 95 00:05:42,759 --> 00:05:45,386 And people ask me all the time, "Well, why didn't you shoot it?" 96 00:05:45,470 --> 00:05:47,347 We had a gun, we were hunting, we could have. 97 00:05:47,430 --> 00:05:48,681 But we were always taught, 98 00:05:48,765 --> 00:05:51,476 "If you're gonna shoot something, ya eat it," and we weren't gonna eat that. 99 00:05:52,602 --> 00:05:54,020 -It's crazy, isn't it? -Yeah. 100 00:05:54,103 --> 00:05:55,897 Even today, I've seen it so many times, 101 00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:58,274 and every time I watch it, I'm like, "Oh, my God." 102 00:05:58,441 --> 00:06:00,818 It's amazing. Wow. 103 00:06:02,612 --> 00:06:05,323 I have a lot of disbelief in a lot of things, 104 00:06:05,406 --> 00:06:08,743 but also I believe in a lot of the magic at the same time. 105 00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:11,954 You know, it's an old forest. Who knows what's hiding out there? 106 00:06:13,831 --> 00:06:16,834 So when he first said, "Let's go find ourselves a Skunk Ape," 107 00:06:17,794 --> 00:06:18,795 I was all for it. 108 00:06:23,091 --> 00:06:24,092 Hop in. 109 00:06:25,718 --> 00:06:29,472 I had never been to Big Cypress. I'd never really been to the Everglades. 110 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,101 I figured, "What's the worst that could happen?" 111 00:06:34,852 --> 00:06:38,981 There have been several people come up missing here in the Everglades. 112 00:06:40,983 --> 00:06:43,069 People just disappear around here. 113 00:06:43,778 --> 00:06:45,988 I was here to see what Florida had to offer. 114 00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:49,867 You know, you don't know if you're gonna get bit by a snake, 115 00:06:49,951 --> 00:06:52,829 or grabbed by an alligator, or maybe a shark will get you, 116 00:06:52,912 --> 00:06:55,665 but honestly, that's what I was in it for. 117 00:06:55,748 --> 00:06:57,250 Its beauty and its danger. 118 00:06:57,792 --> 00:07:00,795 I'm telling you right now, if you're gonna go in the Everglades, 119 00:07:00,878 --> 00:07:02,088 you better be careful. 120 00:07:04,424 --> 00:07:06,509 Roman has a lot of camping experience. 121 00:07:07,009 --> 00:07:09,011 I did kind of feel out of my element. 122 00:07:09,137 --> 00:07:10,179 You all right? 123 00:07:12,723 --> 00:07:13,975 Yeah, just about got it. 124 00:07:14,684 --> 00:07:17,019 The ground's not stable. 125 00:07:17,687 --> 00:07:21,315 I think he just keeps me around for, like, comic relief. 126 00:07:31,576 --> 00:07:33,494 We're getting ready to go look for the Skunk Ape. 127 00:07:33,578 --> 00:07:35,246 -Hey. -Roman turns to me and says... 128 00:07:35,329 --> 00:07:36,372 Want some mushrooms? 129 00:07:38,166 --> 00:07:41,502 He knew I wanted some mushrooms. I definitely wanted some mushrooms. 130 00:07:42,086 --> 00:07:43,921 I definitely want some mushrooms. 131 00:08:23,211 --> 00:08:25,046 We headed out right after the sunset. 132 00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:27,381 It's the best time. It's like when all the reptiles 133 00:08:27,465 --> 00:08:29,050 and stuff are just waking up. 134 00:08:30,801 --> 00:08:34,889 Roman goes into it like an eager explorer. I'm more nervous. 135 00:08:36,057 --> 00:08:38,351 Roman explained all the signs we were looking for. 136 00:08:39,018 --> 00:08:41,729 Rule number one, follow the stink. 137 00:08:43,147 --> 00:08:44,273 Smells terrible. 138 00:08:44,398 --> 00:08:47,527 "The foul smell, the tufts of hair." 139 00:08:47,610 --> 00:08:49,862 "And that, like, and the weird knocking noise." 140 00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:54,242 Rule number two, listen for strange knocking noises. 141 00:08:54,867 --> 00:08:58,329 Knock, knock, knock. That's a warning. 142 00:09:00,790 --> 00:09:04,252 Rule number three, speak its language. 143 00:09:04,752 --> 00:09:07,255 The Skunk Ape uses samurai chatter 144 00:09:07,380 --> 00:09:09,966 to confuse and disorient people in the swamp. 145 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:21,310 And Roman knew some Skunk Ape call that was supposed to lure 'em out. 146 00:09:21,394 --> 00:09:25,022 That's the kind of person he is. Surprises me all the time. 147 00:09:25,481 --> 00:09:26,482 You try it. 148 00:09:41,038 --> 00:09:43,457 Some people say, "It's like the voice of God hitting you." 149 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:46,836 It's a deep, deep tone that just takes you over. 150 00:09:47,086 --> 00:09:49,589 But it also might be a way they communicate. 151 00:09:49,797 --> 00:09:54,552 I'm gonna do some hums and see if we can lure something in. 152 00:10:21,579 --> 00:10:24,081 "The frequencies are just pure chaos." 153 00:10:24,165 --> 00:10:27,335 The frequencies are just pure chaos. 154 00:10:47,938 --> 00:10:49,565 If you piss off a Skunk Ape, 155 00:10:49,690 --> 00:10:52,777 they will kill you. You will not get out of the woods alive. 156 00:10:56,781 --> 00:10:58,324 We walked for miles. 157 00:10:58,449 --> 00:11:00,910 We had traveled so far, and we had found nothing. 158 00:11:02,953 --> 00:11:04,038 Hey, you all right? 159 00:11:06,666 --> 00:11:09,669 If I die, just drag me somewhere soft. 160 00:11:10,378 --> 00:11:12,755 But tell everybody that I fought really bravely. 161 00:11:16,967 --> 00:11:18,177 Tell them yourself. 162 00:11:21,847 --> 00:11:24,392 -God, you're so awesome. -So are you. 163 00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:28,646 You start, you know, hearing things in the woods. 164 00:11:29,814 --> 00:11:31,649 You don't ever feel like you're alone out there too. 165 00:11:31,732 --> 00:11:33,818 You always feel like you got eyes on you. 166 00:11:43,452 --> 00:11:46,539 So, you're seeing a patch of hair and you start really believing 167 00:11:46,622 --> 00:11:50,418 that you're going to run into, like, a giant swamp gorilla. 168 00:11:55,047 --> 00:11:58,050 It smelled terrible, like rotten eggs and garbage. 169 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,977 Even if we don't run into this swamp gorilla, 170 00:12:09,186 --> 00:12:11,063 I'm just happy we're here together. 171 00:12:16,318 --> 00:12:18,946 We heard that weird knocking sound, plain as day. 172 00:12:19,029 --> 00:12:20,030 It's him. 173 00:12:20,114 --> 00:12:22,658 I thought, "There's got to be a logical explanation for this." 174 00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:24,535 There's gotta be a logical explanation for this. 175 00:12:24,618 --> 00:12:28,372 Maybe that knock sound is an alligator snapping its jaws closed. 176 00:12:29,039 --> 00:12:30,374 Then I heard something else. 177 00:12:35,421 --> 00:12:37,506 Hearing that made my blood go cold. 178 00:12:37,631 --> 00:12:40,384 Hey, hey, hey. You okay, buddy? 179 00:12:41,260 --> 00:12:43,345 I had taken those mushrooms earlier 180 00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:45,264 but I didn't really think they were doing anything. 181 00:12:45,389 --> 00:12:47,266 But it hit me all at once. 182 00:12:49,185 --> 00:12:50,853 Hey. Buddy? 183 00:12:51,395 --> 00:12:54,273 And everything kind of zooms out and I realize, like, 184 00:12:54,356 --> 00:12:56,942 "Oh, no. I really am tripping." 185 00:12:59,487 --> 00:13:01,572 Oh, no. I really am tripping. 186 00:13:02,281 --> 00:13:04,992 That's when Roman shoots me the biggest grin and says, 187 00:13:05,618 --> 00:13:06,827 "You know it's close." 188 00:13:06,952 --> 00:13:07,953 It's close. 189 00:13:08,496 --> 00:13:12,208 Everything just like stretching and I'm getting tunnel vision. 190 00:13:12,291 --> 00:13:15,711 It just... everything just zooms out. 191 00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:17,630 It's close. 192 00:13:27,056 --> 00:13:29,183 I was thinking to myself, "What in the world?" 193 00:13:29,350 --> 00:13:30,601 What in the world? 194 00:13:32,436 --> 00:13:35,022 If you encounter the Skunk Ape, you have to remain calm. 195 00:13:35,105 --> 00:13:37,525 Just like other predators, if you run, 196 00:13:37,608 --> 00:13:40,444 it's going to chase after you just based on instinct. 197 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:51,330 I didn't know where Roman had gone at this point. 198 00:13:51,413 --> 00:13:52,790 I was tripping pretty hard. 199 00:13:53,665 --> 00:13:54,667 Roman? 200 00:13:56,252 --> 00:13:57,503 And that's when I saw it. 201 00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:02,675 The Skunk Ape. 202 00:14:06,512 --> 00:14:07,638 Holy shit. 203 00:14:10,683 --> 00:14:12,476 He was about ten feet away from me. 204 00:14:13,644 --> 00:14:16,397 Sasquatch is known to have some special abilities. 205 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,441 Some are a little bit more natural, like echolocation, 206 00:14:19,525 --> 00:14:23,445 but they also are said to have telepathy and mind-speak. 207 00:14:23,946 --> 00:14:25,698 Like you're standing there looking at it... 208 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:29,869 and its lips don't move. 209 00:14:30,703 --> 00:14:33,914 But in your head, you hear, "I am the keeper of the woods." 210 00:14:33,998 --> 00:14:36,333 I am the keeper of the woods. 211 00:14:37,418 --> 00:14:40,796 -Your lips didn't move. -Nope, that's mind-speak. 212 00:14:41,547 --> 00:14:43,215 Some campers have experienced 213 00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:47,469 these creatures entering their mind with special messages, warnings. 214 00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:49,638 You should really open a savings account. 215 00:14:49,722 --> 00:14:53,100 You're losing so much money just using your checking for everything. 216 00:14:53,684 --> 00:14:55,561 -What? -You should also routinely check 217 00:14:55,644 --> 00:14:57,271 your moles for discoloration. 218 00:14:58,188 --> 00:15:00,024 You got one on your shoulder that seems iffy. 219 00:15:01,734 --> 00:15:04,987 During mind-speak, the Skunk Ape's gonna look straight into your soul. 220 00:15:09,533 --> 00:15:13,120 -Am I funny to you? -Bro, that smell is crazy. 221 00:15:14,663 --> 00:15:15,789 Am I a clown? 222 00:15:21,086 --> 00:15:23,339 If a Skunk Ape charged me, I would hold my ground. 223 00:15:23,422 --> 00:15:26,383 You gotta handle it like a bear. It can destroy you anyway. 224 00:15:26,467 --> 00:15:27,551 You're not gonna outrun it, 225 00:15:27,635 --> 00:15:29,303 so you might as well look it right in its eyes. 226 00:15:32,890 --> 00:15:35,142 Well, I'm sure my eyes popped out of my head. 227 00:15:35,559 --> 00:15:38,562 And so I'm sitting there realizing I'm face-to-face with, 228 00:15:39,104 --> 00:15:41,732 you know, what I thought I wanted for so long, 229 00:15:42,358 --> 00:15:44,401 except now it's trying to kill me. 230 00:15:44,485 --> 00:15:48,906 How dare you come up in my house smelling all fresh and clean? 231 00:15:54,411 --> 00:15:58,082 I didn't think I was gonna have like a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde moment, 232 00:15:58,582 --> 00:16:01,085 but I kind of went, "Not today." 233 00:16:01,627 --> 00:16:02,836 Not today, bro! 234 00:16:04,546 --> 00:16:06,882 I realize I don't have any tools to dispatch the beast 235 00:16:07,007 --> 00:16:09,259 but a little gas station knife. 236 00:16:17,434 --> 00:16:18,894 Suddenly, Roman ran up. 237 00:16:20,312 --> 00:16:21,313 Travis! 238 00:16:23,232 --> 00:16:26,235 Roman! I got the Skunk Ape! 239 00:16:26,318 --> 00:16:27,611 That's when I realized... 240 00:16:27,778 --> 00:16:31,865 That is not a Skunk Ape, that is a Burmese python. 241 00:16:35,452 --> 00:16:38,288 It wasn't a Skunk Ape. It was a Burmese python. 242 00:16:39,164 --> 00:16:42,084 And I'm thinking, "Uh-oh, this is not good." 243 00:16:42,584 --> 00:16:44,169 This is not good! 244 00:16:44,253 --> 00:16:47,256 I was so high, I had been hallucinating the whole thing. 245 00:16:48,132 --> 00:16:50,175 The snakes are an invasive species 246 00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,886 that have wreaked havoc on the Everglades ecosystem. 247 00:16:52,970 --> 00:16:55,973 Members of the public are encouraged to kill them on sight. 248 00:16:56,140 --> 00:16:57,850 They have bone-crushing strength. 249 00:16:57,933 --> 00:17:00,269 You get one of these big snakes wrapped around your neck, 250 00:17:00,352 --> 00:17:03,147 it's not that they're choking you, they're breaking your neck. 251 00:17:04,106 --> 00:17:08,777 Honestly, it felt unreal at that moment because the snake's rainbow-colored. 252 00:17:08,902 --> 00:17:11,320 And all of these things are happening and I can't tell, 253 00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:13,406 is this the snake or is this real life? 254 00:17:14,950 --> 00:17:17,786 I was starting to feel like I was in big trouble. 255 00:17:17,869 --> 00:17:19,788 The python tried to bite me a couple times. 256 00:17:19,872 --> 00:17:21,123 They have some mean teeth on them. 257 00:17:23,166 --> 00:17:25,210 Roman's looking at it and he's like trying to figure out 258 00:17:25,294 --> 00:17:26,753 which end he wants to grab it from. 259 00:17:26,837 --> 00:17:30,466 And he's like, grabs it by the head. That's when I go with the folding knife. 260 00:17:33,802 --> 00:17:35,721 I go, like, full Rambo. 261 00:17:39,558 --> 00:17:43,812 Definitely turns out a gas station knife is more dangerous than a python. 262 00:17:43,937 --> 00:17:45,272 Yeah! 263 00:17:45,355 --> 00:17:46,690 I was so excited. 264 00:17:46,774 --> 00:17:49,151 So I take the snake and I hoist it over my head 265 00:17:49,234 --> 00:17:51,236 like a WWE championship belt. 266 00:17:54,698 --> 00:17:57,493 I think that's when me and Roman really bonded. 267 00:17:57,701 --> 00:17:59,536 I don't know, I think that we both have something 268 00:17:59,620 --> 00:18:01,789 that we're looking for inside of us. 269 00:18:01,872 --> 00:18:05,125 And I think that we kind of find it in the deepest part of the woods. 270 00:18:07,377 --> 00:18:11,090 It wasn't what we set out to find, but it was quite an adventure. 271 00:18:14,426 --> 00:18:15,969 It was the end of the journey. 272 00:18:23,227 --> 00:18:24,645 So we go into Everglades City 273 00:18:24,728 --> 00:18:27,815 and someone pointed me down the road to Dusty Crumb. 274 00:18:29,066 --> 00:18:33,153 I'm Dusty Crumb, and I'm the baddest-ass python hunter in the world, son. 275 00:18:33,278 --> 00:18:39,201 We're at the world-famous Wildman's Pizza, Pasta & Pythons in Everglades City. 276 00:18:40,911 --> 00:18:42,955 Everglades is a crazy place, man. 277 00:18:43,539 --> 00:18:47,292 One of the things they do there is they'll trade you a python for a pizza. 278 00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:52,881 I'm the first place in the world to accept python as currency. 279 00:18:52,965 --> 00:18:56,426 What we do is skin all the snakes, turn them into leather, 280 00:18:56,510 --> 00:18:58,554 then we can make any kind of products you want. 281 00:18:58,637 --> 00:19:01,765 Belts, boots, wallets, purses... 282 00:19:03,142 --> 00:19:04,810 python CD covers. 283 00:19:04,893 --> 00:19:06,854 We've made python pizza before, it's pretty good. 284 00:19:06,979 --> 00:19:08,772 It looked just like gator meat. 285 00:19:08,897 --> 00:19:11,108 It tastes like alligator without the fish taste. 286 00:19:11,191 --> 00:19:13,402 It's got a good flavor, but it is chewy. 287 00:19:13,777 --> 00:19:15,154 I didn't want a pizza, 288 00:19:15,237 --> 00:19:17,322 but I wanted to know how to preserve my snake. 289 00:19:17,447 --> 00:19:21,618 I went to Dusty Crumb and I'm like, "I did it. I got myself a seven-footer." 290 00:19:21,702 --> 00:19:24,830 He was so nice, he walked me through everything I needed to do, 291 00:19:24,913 --> 00:19:26,623 how to preserve python skin. 292 00:19:26,874 --> 00:19:29,751 You do gotta cut around the cloaca here, or you know, the butthole. 293 00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:31,378 Once you get the head started, 294 00:19:31,461 --> 00:19:33,255 you can just peel him off like a pair of socks. 295 00:19:35,382 --> 00:19:38,177 I didn't skin it right there in the gift shop, but I took it home. 296 00:19:40,429 --> 00:19:43,473 Honestly, I never stopped believing that a swamp gorilla 297 00:19:43,557 --> 00:19:47,060 was going to be what we found behind that next tree 298 00:19:47,144 --> 00:19:48,854 or under that next rock. 299 00:19:48,979 --> 00:19:54,193 Society would not be the same if they knew there was another species of human beings. 300 00:19:54,318 --> 00:19:59,114 They're the true Earthlings. They are the closest to God we ever get. 301 00:19:59,239 --> 00:20:01,533 People go to church four times a week 302 00:20:01,617 --> 00:20:05,162 and you can get closer possibly to God out here in the swamp. 303 00:20:08,874 --> 00:20:11,210 We went out looking for this mystical creature. 304 00:20:11,627 --> 00:20:16,381 We found something real instead. I think, to me, that's the magic. 305 00:20:18,383 --> 00:20:21,470 I was thinking about how far we had gone to get there. 306 00:20:21,553 --> 00:20:24,640 It was really about realizing the end of a journey. 307 00:20:24,765 --> 00:20:26,725 You know, standing on top of the mountaintop, 308 00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:31,230 achieving your dreams in a weird way, even if it's just holding a big snake.