There are some fabled monsters out there like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and El Chupacabra. Now Florida has a critter worthy of scary bedtime tales: The Skunk Ape.
The Skunk Ape, also known as the Stink Ape, the Myakka Ape, and the Myakka Skunk Ape, is a hominid cryptid said to inhabit Florida,[1] as well as North Carolina and Arkansas, although reports from Florida are more 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.[2] Reports of the Skunk Ape were particularly common in the 1960s and 1970s. In the fall of 1974, numerous sightings were reported in suburban neighborhoods of Dade County, Florida, of a large, foul-smelling, hairy, ape-like creature, which ran upright on two legs. Wikipedia
The Skunk Ape was recently filmed at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County by Mike Falconer, 45, who makes his home in Myakka, where folks in sport truck pull competition know him as the “Myakka Hooker.’
Falconer told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he wasn’t looking for the mysterious creature that day and couldn’t have cared the least about this rumored beast — that is, until he and his son spotted it in the distance while driving along the countryside.
Guess seeing is believing.
He then pulled over and recorded it using his phone’s camera.
Now the ‘Myakka Hooker’ is trying to learn as much as he can about the odditity.
Apparently so are quite a few other folks from all over the country who, Falconer said, have been calling him for interviews.
Florida may not have ‘Storm chasers’ like they the folks in Oklahome but we now have some big foot chaser, says Falconer: They have setup RVs at his house hoping to spot the Skunk Ape.
Check out the video.