Florida Skunk Ape Photos and Sightings Summary

Have you heard about the Florida Skunk Ape? I posted about this mythical creature back in August 2004 and just decided to do an update. The above is an artist’s impression of the real photos below. As far as I know there were only two Myakka Skunk Ape photos.

I found one image that points out you can see fingers near the bottom of the image and if that is indeed a hand, as it appears, the arm of the creature appears to be five feet long!

Are these photos the real deal? In 2000, the photos seen here were anonymously mailed to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department. The author of the accompanying letter claimed to be an elderly woman who thought the creature was an escaped orangutan stealing apples from her backyard.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department received photos of a large, hairy creature later believed to be the Skunk Ape in 2000. The author of the accompanying letter expressed concern about the animal being loose and potentially dangerous, mentioning worries about the creature biting locals and spreading diseases like hepatitis. The department initially laughed off the photos, but later contacted David Barkasy, owner of Silver City Serpentarium, who considered the photos as possible evidence of the Skunk Ape. Loren Coleman, a researcher, reproduced the photographs in high quality and published an overview of the case on his website. While the Sheriff’s Department’s official statements are not explicitly mentioned in the sources, their involvement in receiving and handling the photos is documented[13].

Today, March 27, 2024 while searching the deep web archives I found many years of skunk ape sightings. I fed the text from these reports from the 1800s to 1968 into an AI system to get the following summary of The Florida Skunk Ape, also known as the “Swamp Sasquatch.”

The legendary creature described as a foul-smelling, hairy, bipedal being that has been sighted in various locations across Florida from the 1800s until now. These sightings include encounters in different counties such as Putnam, Lafayette, Polk, Pinellas, Pasco, Collier, Hernando, Lee, Charlotte, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Citrus Park, Palm Beach, and more. Witnesses have reported seeing the Skunk Ape in different scenarios, from jumping on trucks to chasing individuals and being spotted in various landscapes like swamps, fields, and backyards. The creature is often described as tall, standing between 7 to 9 feet, weighing around 400-500 pounds, covered in shaggy reddish to dark brown hair, and emitting a distinct, revolting smell resembling wet dog, skunk, and rotting eggs. These sightings have sparked curiosity and debate, with some individuals like Dave Shealy dedicating their lives to researching and documenting the existence of the elusive Skunk Ape, while mainstream scientists remain skeptical about its reality. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, the legend of the Florida Skunk Ape continues to intrigue and captivate those who venture into the depths of the Everglades and other areas where sightings have been reported.

Sightings Summaries

There are a lage number of sightings over many years. For original reports of sightings, visit BFRO.net where you can get a feel for just how many of these reports there are. Read a few dozen of them, obviously from very different people in different places, and they build a picture of something real. For the Skunk Ape, try looking at the 340+ reports in just Florida.

The latest sighting seems to have been October 12, 2023 in Union County, Florida. A man driving with his wife at about 11:45 pm saw a very large black bipedal figure run accross the road moving extremely fast in front of his vehicle. It disappeared into the treeline[15].

These are summaries, not the original wording of the reports:

REPORT 1 – The creature observed near Union Park, Florida in 1973 was described as very tall, between 7-8 feet, and walked on its hind legs. The witnesses, Jimmy Horton and Cindy, saw this creature emerge from a ditch, walk to the center of the road, and then disappear into another ditch, all while maintaining its bipedal stance. The moonlight illuminated the road well enough for Jimmy to discern that the dark color of the creature was not clothing. The witnesses initially mistook it for a bear due to its size and behavior, but the creature’s ability to walk on two legs contradicted typical bear behavior, as bears do not walk consistently on their hind legs

REPORT 2 – In 1973, in Monroe County, Louise Hart and her father John D. Hart were on their flat bottom boat off Lostmans River entrance when they observed a large man emerging from the water. This man, covered in hair, was taller than average, wore no clothes, and shook himself dry like a wet dog. After looking towards their boat, he walked into the scrub brush. Referred to as the North Harney Hooter, he was believed to be a wild man who frequented the area, howling and hooting at sports fishermen. A similar sighting of a 7-foot-tall creature with glowing red eyes climbing in and out of Mangroves was reported in 1972 near Chokoloskee, although it is unclear if this was connected to the North Harney[11]

REPORT 3 – The report from Miami-Dade County near Miami off of Hwy 27 and Krome Ave on January 9th at 12:40 AM describes a sighting by 35-year-old Richard Lee Smith. He initially thought he saw a man running down the highway, but upon closer inspection, realized it was a huge creature that screamed at him. The creature, covered in black hair with a silver strip down its back, ran on two legs and appeared strong and bulky. Officer Hollemaeyal, dispatched to the scene, confirmed the sighting and shot at the creature, which then ran off into the swamp. Additionally, a terrified dog was observed on the road during the incident. This story was widely reported in the Miami Herald and other media outlets, with details of a Seminole elder reassuring Mr. Smith that the incident was an accident. Furthermore, a confidential report mentioned encounters with the creature by a rancher in the area, with a blood sample analysis revealing it to be humanoid but not human.

REPORT 4 – The report from Broward County-Ft. Lauderdale in June 1975 describes a sighting of a mysterious creature with dark hair and long arms. The witness observed the creature walking very fast, utilizing its whole body as it crossed the road, appearing larger than a Ford Pinto Stationwagon. There were two witnesses in the front seat and two children asleep in the back seat during the encounter. The witness believed the creature was male, and another witness mentioned being left traumatized by the sighting. The primary witness had never shared this experience before due to fear of not being believed, expressing intense fear during the sighting. The sighting occurred late at night while traveling south on Hwy 27, where the creature emerged from a canal, crossed the road, and made eye contact with the witness before disappearing into the opposite canal, leaving a lasting impression of an unforgettable and eerie encounter.

REPORT 5 – The Skunk Ape sighting in 1976 in Citrus County, Dunellon, Florida, as reported by Donald Duncan, involved a creature with specific physical details and observed behaviors. Duncan and his son encountered the Skunk Ape in their yard at 3 AM, where it was seen rolling in the sand with three dogs. When Duncan fired a round from his .22, the dogs fled, and the creature stood up. Described as 7-8 feet tall, with reddish-brown hair, black skin, red eyes, and weighing around 450 lbs, the Skunk Ape emitted a wolf-like howl when shot at. Duncan noted the creature’s gracefulness and provided details of its tracks, including one foot with four toes and the other with three toes.

REPORT 6 – The sighting in Louisiana on October 31, 1976, in the Leesburg area of Hicks Parish, involved a witness exploring the deep swampy woods. The weather was cool and wet with misty visibility. The witness detected a foul odor, leading him to a wet marsh where he encountered a large, upright figure initially mistaken for a man in camouflage. As he approached, realizing it wasn’t human or a bear due to its size and bipedal movement, the witness accidentally alerted the creature, causing it to growl and approach aggressively. The creature, standing about 7 feet tall, had a stern, hateful face, covered in brown, matted hair, displaying human-like emotions of anger and fear. Despite the intense encounter lasting 4 to 5 minutes, the creature did not harm the witness, eventually retreating into the woods growling and screaming. The witness described the creature’s face as angry with a human-chimpanzee appearance, showing clear emotions and a football player-like chest. The witness never returned to the area, influenced by the terrifying experience and stories from locals about similar sightings.

Endangered Species

As a reminder, do not kill Bigfoot. Skamania County, Washington, passed a law in 1969 deeming the “slaying of Bigfoot to be a felony and punishable by 5 years in prison.”  It goes without saying that you should not shoot at any primate, including one that has been described as looking more human than ape-like.

David Sheal Video

The Florida Skunk Ape, a creature of mystery and intrigue, has long captured the attention of believers and skeptics alike. Sightings and reports of this elusive being have sparked debates and curiosity, leading to questions about its existence. From the initial video captured by David Shealy in 2000 to more recent encounters, the Skunk Ape remains a subject of fascination.

In this particular video the footage near the end looks more like it has an extra tall gorilla head. Could be a man in a costume, but watching it frame by frame forward and backward, it starts to feel real and spooky. You be the judge.

Years ago I got together with some friends and we made a video of me and another guy walking in a field wearing a gorilla suits. I tried walking in a few different ways to see how it would look. Parts of it did look like this, but I’ll tell you, it is scary to walk around in the brush in a costume with limited visibility. So, given how fast he is moving near the end, pretty much running, and how gracefullly, I think this might be real. The movement at that speed does not seem very human. Then again, sometimes when I watch it, I just see a guy in a suit with padded shoulders and a sort of head extension.

Why is Bigfoot always blurry? That in itself is suspicous. With all the modern game cameras and smart phones, you’d really expect someone to have better video by now, 24 years later, in 2024.

Citations
^{[1] https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/arts/movies/2020/10/07/a-skunk-ape-movie-was-made-in-tampa-is-the-creature-real/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detour_%28The_X-Files%29
[3] https://tampabay.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-2020-10-29-tale-of-the-a/137026289/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/XFiles/comments/ovosqh/when_mulder_raises_his_voice_he_sounds_like/
[5] http://legendarycreatures.xphilefic.com/Rokovoko.htm
[6] https://allthatsinteresting.com/florida-skunk-ape
[7] https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-skunk-ape-legend/
[8] https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2021/06/25/searching-for-floridas-skunk-ape-chasing-sunshine-states-sasquatch-in-the-everglades/
[9] https://www.westpalmbeach.com/the-skunk-ape/
[10] https://www.skunkape.info
[11] http://www.bigfootencounters.com/articles/ramona.htm
[12] https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/man-claims-he-spotted-floridas-elusive-skunk-ape/
[13] https://www.cryptidcampfire.com/blog/the-myakkan-mystery
[14] http://bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=76617}