The next time you are laying on the beach in sunny Florida keep in mind that a relative of Bigfoot. This is the Florida Skunk Ape, although it is not exclusive to Florida. It has been sighted in Oklahoma, North Carolina and Arkansas. However, the majority of sightings have happened close or within the Florida Everglades.

The name of this creature helps describe what you’ll notice when you see one of these animals. It is an ape-like creature, bipedal with reddish brown or black fur. The Ape is accompanied by a very distinct odor: rotten eggs. This bipedal ape can be 6-7 feet tall and weigh as much as 450 lbs.

This animal has been reported for more than 200 years, pretty much since the arrival of the Europeans. Natives have reports and legends going back as far as they can remember. The European reports were certainly familiar to the native peoples of the area.

The Skunk Ape is believed to be a vegetarian, eating various grasses and tree bark. It has though been known to kill a Deer and eat the liver of the animal only, leaving the rest to rot. There have not been any reports of attacks on humans; in fact it seems a rather shy animal.
There are other researchers who claim that the Skunk Ape is omnivorous. They make this claim because they apparently have been finding fecal matter of this animal and examining it. Not everyone is convinced of this however.

While it seems that the Skunk Ape don’t have homes as such, they do appear to make beds much like other apes. There are those that suggest that the Skunk Ape will use a cave that was dug out by alligators in which to sleep. While there are others still who claim the Ape makes a bed using various grass and plants to make a comfortable bed. Most apes do a form of this kind of bed making.

There are more reports of ape-like creatures in Florida than any other area except the Pacific North West. So Florida is pretty much a hot bed of ape sighting activity. These reports go to the Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. The Commission believes that people who have seen the Skunk Ape are actually seeing another animal. Members of the Commission claim to have never seen an ape themselves.

Sightings continue to this day. There are a number of photographs of the Skunk Ape and there are a couple of photos which are particularly good. There have been casts taken of footprints and casts of the animals’ knuckles.

The Skunk Ape has been known to travel as individuals but there are increasing reports of the ape traveling in groups of 2 or more. No one yet knows if these are mating couples or if they gathering food for the community or those who are not able to get their own food.

This ape is, like many others, very elusive and appears smart. We might find out just exactly what the Skunk Ape is during the next summer season. However, it remains fully possible that we may never solve the riddle of the Florida Skunk Ape.