Cryptozoologists on “Wife Swap”

I guess if reality TV “stars” can make guest appearances on paranormal investigations shows, then it’s only fair if paranormal investigators make guest appearances on reality TV shows. Michelle Mason blogged yesterday about The Real Housewives appearing in a future episode of Ghost Hunters (I’ll pause for a moment to allow you to mourn the loss of whatever lingering respect you had for TAPS before the preceding sentence), and now it seems we have cryptozoologists on Wife Swap. For anyone unfamiliar with Wife Swap, let me just say that it’s nowhere near as fun as it sounds. Sorry guys. From Tampa Bay Online:

SEBRING – Rob Robinson, a retired Army sergeant who hunts for monsters, and his curious ghost hunting wife, Tracy, were guests on ABC’s “Wife Swap” that aired Friday.

They call themselves legend trippers, cryptozoologists or monster hunters.

Whatever the label, the Sebring couple spends most of their spare time searching for unknown animals like the legendary Swamp Ape out in the Everglades and forests of Osceola County.

Rob is especially interested in discovering the Swamp Ape, also known as Florida’s Bigfoot. Together they’ve spent eight years researching countless sighting for evidence of the cryptid.

While Tracy and Rob spend time with their 18-year-old son Josh, the show focused on how their monster hunting searches take time away from him. But the blended family said that is not always the case.

Josh, Tracy’s stepson, is a shy high school senior who isn’t as intrigued with hunting for the Swamp Ape as he is cooking up new recipes.

“I want to be a chef,” Josh said.

Tracy switched places with Andrea Parker, from Memphis, Tenn., a mom who spends most of her time catering to her 9 year-old son’s hip hop career.

For Tracy and Rob there are no hand outs. They believe their kids have to work for what they want.

“We didn’t grow up in the “Me” generation. We’re just raising them,” Tracy said.

“If you want something so bad, you have to work for it,” Rob added.

The quirky couple said the show was an eye opener and brought them closer together.

Josh came out of his shell on the show by participating in a hip hop music video with the Parker family. Tracy learned what it takes to promote a hip hop show and Rob realized it’s no fun hanging out alone.

“I spent a lot of time alone in my room because I didn’t agree with selling my hovercraft … I’m very supportive of Josh’s interest in culinary,” Robert said.

“I am pushing for him to do what he wants,” he added.

So what did Josh think of his new mom?

“She’s really nice,” he said with a smile.

Since most of Josh’s friends live in another town, having Parker around was fun for the teen.

“It was weird but exciting,” Josh said.

Filming and the Swamp Ape

The couple was approached by ABC to audition for the show after friend Scott Marlowe, a fellow cryptozoologist, was asked by producers if he knew of any monster hunting families.

For about two weeks in October the Robinson family was followed by producers and a camera crew.

“It’s a family experiment,” said Tracy, who still keeps in touch with the Parkers.

During filming, crew members seemed to develop an interest in finding the Swamp Ape, Rob said.

On one of the shoots Rob took Parker to a wooded area where sightings of the creature were reported. Tracy did the same with Parker’s family.

It’s not a typical camping trip.

Rob and Tracy got geared up with their night vision goggles, masking spray, guerilla pheromones, and motion sensor camera to scout out the areas.

“For the younger kids you tell them, ‘Let’s go look for Bigfoot’ … then you show them this is poison oak, this is poison ivy, these are panther tracks. They learn something,” Rob said.

Although hunting for the creature is great fun, Rob is convinced he’ll find some evidence to prove its existence.

“If I can find the right area, yes, persistence is going to pay off on this one,” Rob said.

When it comes to disproving sightings of the ominous Swamp Ape, Tracy’s motto is kill it with reason.

“I love to disprove things,” Tracy said.

Until she sees it with her own eyes she’ll remain a skeptic.

“Any scientist who puts down the monster, they’re forgetting what it was like to be a kid,” Tracy said.

Once again, I’m all for more exposure in our field, but this is the wrong way to go about it. TAPS and “Ghost Hunters” are basically becoming a living, breathing joke, with special guest investigators, including professional wrestlers, Meatloaf, and a rogues gallery of horrible actors and actresses from equally horrible shows on the horribly renamed SyFy network. And Bigfoot in Florida is most commonly known as the Skunk Ape, not Swamp Ape (though the latter is sometimes used). Not sure if the family or the reporter mixed that one up.