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Skunk Ape |
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The Skunk Ape or Florida Skunk Ape is a hominid cryptid said to inhabit the Southeastern United States,from places such as Oklahoma, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Illinois, although reports from the Florida Everglades are particularly common. It is named for its appearance and for the unpleasant odor that is said to accompany it. According to the United States National Park Service, the skunk ape exists only as a local myth. Reports of the Skunk ape were common in the 1960s and 1970s. Particular cases of sightings of skunk apes include "Knobby" and the "Fouke Monster". The Skunk Ape is said to be a large hairy, bipedal mammal that calls the Florida Everglades home. They have (allegedly) been spotted as far north as Tallahassee and as far south as Lostman's River. Large adult males are said to weigh in excess of 450 lbs and stand 6 to 7 feet tall with reddish or dark brown hair similar in appearance to an orangutan or gorilla. Some believe that this biped is part of the same species as the famed Big Foot. A handful of sightings have also happened in the Western US, including Simi Valley, CA. In recent months, several sightings have been reported near the Withlacoochee River in Brooks County, GA, between Quitman and Valdosta. The smell of a Skunk Ape has been reported to be similar to rotten eggs or Hydrogen Sulfide. Purported photos of a skunk ape were taken by a Florida woman claiming to have photographed the creature in the palmettos at the edge of her backyard. The photographer claimed that for three nights the ape had entered her yard to take apples from a bushel basket on her porch. She was convinced it was an escaped orangutan. The police were called to the house continuous times but when they arrived the 'Ape' was gone. The pictures have become known to Bigfoot enthusiasts as the "Myakka skunk ape photos". Loren Coleman is the primary researcher on the Myakka photographs, having tracked down the two photographs to an "Eckerd photo lab at the intersection of Fruitville and Tuttle Roads" in Sarasota County, Florida. - entry provided by ChupacabrasPR, iriscruz1215@optonline.net
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