Florida's version of Bigfoot lurks in the Everglades, distinguished by an overwhelming stench. Decades of sightings and a famous anonymous photograph in 2000 have made the Skunk Ape an enduring cryptid legend.
In December 2000, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office in Florida received an anonymous letter and two photographs.
The sender, claiming to be an elderly woman, wrote: "An animal has been coming to my backyard to steal apples. At first I thought it was an orangutan. But when I saw it up close, it wasn't. I took these photos. Please catch this animal."
The photographs showed a massive ape-like face peering from dense vegetation. Reddish-brown fur. Eyes reflecting the camera flash. An expression that seemed to mix anger with bewilderment.
The images went viral as the "Myakka Skunk Ape photographs." They reignited global interest in a legend that had been simmering in Florida's swamps for decades.
Skunk Ape sightings have been accumulating since the 1960s. As its name implies, the creature's most distinctive feature is an unbearable stench. Witnesses describe it as "a mixture of rotten eggs and skunk" or "methane gas and decomposing flesh." The smell reportedly precedes the creature's appearance.
Physically, it resembles Bigfoot. Standing 2 to 2.5 meters tall, covered in reddish-brown to orange fur. However, unlike the Pacific Northwest Bigfoot, the Skunk Ape appears smaller and seemingly adapted to a swamp environment.
The epicenter of sightings is Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve—the vast wetlands of southern Florida. Alligator territory. Tangled mangroves. Terrain that is extremely hostile to human exploration.
In the 1970s, a wave of sightings struck Dade County, Florida. Multiple residents reported a large bipedal creature prowling residential areas at night. Police received floods of calls and intensified patrols. Footprints were discovered, but the creature was never identified.
In 1997, all passengers on a tour bus near the Everglades—approximately 40 people—witnessed a large bipedal figure cross the road. The driver slammed the brakes. The creature disappeared into the wetlands.
As recently as 2014, a new cluster of sightings in southern Florida prompted coverage by local television stations.
The most commonly cited explanation for the Skunk Ape is escaped or abandoned primates. Florida houses numerous primate research facilities, and documented cases of animals escaping during hurricanes and other disasters exist.
Another theory attributes the phenomenon to a combination of Florida black bears—which can stand on their hind legs and appear vaguely humanoid in low light—and swamp methane, which provides the signature foul odor.
But southern Florida's wetlands cover approximately 16,000 square kilometers. Much of this terrain has never been surveyed on foot. Can we truly claim to know everything that lives there?
If you catch a nauseating stench drifting from a dark swamp, it might be methane. Or it might be something else entirely.
