Nov 26, 2014 I Paul Seaburn

New Skunk Ape Sighting Reported in Florida

It’s a tall, hairy, upright-walking creature that smells like a black-striped funky-smelling creature and it appears to be coming out a little more often. A woman driving in September on Highway 72 toward Arcadia, Florida, in the Myakka River State Park reported seeing Florida’s cousin of Bigfoot, the Skunk Ape.

Also known as Myakka Ape, Swamp Ape or Florida Bigfoot, Skunk Apes have been spotted most often in Florida but also in North Carolina and Arkansas. Their Florida habitat is primarily the Everglades where these 6-to-7-foot-tall, 450 pound creatures are said to acquire their funky odor - which is reported to be more like rotten eggs or methane than skunk - from hiding in alligator dens filled with decaying animal flesh.

R. Monteith of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) took a detailed report from the unnamed witness in early November. According to the report, she said the creature was black, bipedal and taller than her father, who is 6’5”. It ran 15 feet in front of her car so she could see that its fur was “shaggy, not fluffy” and it had a human-like face with tan leathery skin, a flat wide nose and dark eyes. After it ran into the woods, the woman stopped her car and got out, which is when she smelled the telltale skunk odor.

This is the second Skunk Ape sighting in a little over a year. In March 2013, a man saw what he thought was a Skunk Ape, also in the Myakka River State Park, recorded it with his cellphone and posted the grainy video on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWPw_D5vpuw

This image is not as clear as the two famous photographs (one shown above) taken in 2000 by a woman who claimed it was attracted to the apple trees in her yard, again near the Myakka River.

Keep your eyes open, Floridians. We may be having a Skunk Ape renaissance.

shealy 1998 570x400
A 1998 photo taken by Skunk Ape expert Dave Shealy.

Paul Seaburn

Paul Seaburn is the editor at Mysterious Universe and its most prolific writer. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. His “What in the World!” podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.

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