October 4, 2007 | 
Author This afternoon I was discussing Oak Hammock Park with a city employee and was saddened to hear about the trouble they have had in the area. It seems that the curiosity of some individuals has overcome their common sense, leading to multiple incidents of trespass and even property damage. Because of the situation, Parks and Recreation has been forced to hire night staff, install cameras to monitor the area and to even contact the police when those who do not belong are found on the grounds.
Oak Hammock Park is a dangerous place at night; it is easy to become lost on the trails and there is always the concern of meeting up with a ‘worldly’ creature such as an alligator (or any other number of wild animals). It is also breaking the law to enter the property without proper permission from those in charge.
The truth of the matter is that by illegally entering the property, you are doing more harm than good to the entire area of paranormal investigation.
Please do not break the law in your attempts to satisfy your curiosity over the Devil’s Tree. We can not stress this enough.
Posted in General Updates
We have had a huge response to our research and site work on the “Devil’s Tree” and “Oak Hammock Park”. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating and we have not been able to visit the park again. While the park is open, the recent rains have turned the area into a muddy mess.
We will be back at it as soon as possible.
Another note about danger at Oak Hammock Park at night is that there are Florida Panthers in the area. My husband and I saw a large one cross the road just before the entrance to the park about 10 years ago at about 7 pm in the month of July, so don’t hike alone. There are predatory animals around when you least expect them and they are professional hunters, their lives depend on it, and we aren’t always the apex predators walking around. I was walking the Oxbow trail one morning and came face to face with a wild boar but luckily I spooked it- but if it had been a female with babies, she may have gone after me to protect her young. Always be safe when you hike in woodsy terrain.
The above is utter b.s. There are no predatory animals in O.H. Park – nor spooks nor Devil trees. All such things exist only in the minds of childish idiots.
Hi Richard-
Great of you to read and comment, as we love having an involved audience. That said, I do have to wonder about the sensibility of your reply. For example, you stated, “There are no predatory animals in O.H. Park.” Perhaps you aren’t familiar with the region, or maybe you are unaware of the dangers that do in fact lurk in the park at night, but I can assure you, the last thing any late-night thrill seeker needs is an encounter with a wild hog, an alligator or even a coral snake.
You also point out that there are no ‘Devil trees,’ something I can refute with fact; whether you believe them to be paranormal or not is an entirely different matter than the nomenclature and lore so closely tied to trees with histories involving evil. Society has dictated that they be associated with the Devil—our group certainly didn’t name the tree.
Finally, as for your comment that, “All such things exist only in the minds of childish idiots,” I can only wonder what events in your life have left you with a mind closed off to the possibility of there being some hereto undocumented aspect of our reality. Science is still exploring amazing possibilities on a daily basis—the God particle, dimensional folds and dark matter to name a few. Researching locations such as the Devil’s Tree is no different than those forays into more traditional fields of science. On a personal note, I don’t believe humankind would progress very far if everyone believed those exploring the currently unexplained were simply childish minds. Thank goodness that is the exception to the rule, though, or we would still believe the Earth to be carried among the stars on the back of a giant turtle.
I assure you, I am totally familiar with the park, having constructed all the trails there in 2000 and worked there until the present. No predatory animals live there – alligators live in water, panthers number only in the 100′s far from there, and wild hogs are never seen. Neither do ghostly spirits inhabit the area. The so-called Devil tree is a construct of imagination,evolved over a lot of years of heresay and conjuring. Far better that visitors should enjoy one of the few biogems of nature left in PSL, and center their attention on God’s wonders.