Between the 1960s and 1970s, several years after the release of Bigfoot footage, Florida police received numerous amount of reports claiming there was a similar creature inhabiting Florida swamplands. This creature was come to be know as the Skunk Ape, but is also known as the Swamp Ape, Florida Bigfoot, Myakka Ape, and the Stink Ape. Witnesses described the creature as ape like standing upright at seven feet tall covered in light brown hair. The complete personification of bigfoot, the only difference is that it had a foul smell similar to that of a skunk which is where it acquired its’ name.
After the initial reports reached the public consciousness, sightings of the Skunk Ape withered down to an abrupt halt. Pictures, footprints, and hair samples were collected and analyzed. A prominent theory was set forward of the Skunk Ape having been captured by the United States Army and detained within the Everglades National Park. Arising from this theory, an urban myth started to circulate speculating the Skunk Ape had escaped the confines of the government by breaking through a concrete wall and returning to the swamplands, its rightful home. Other Speculators believe this mysterious creature resides at the Big Cypress National Reserve, but none of the 70 wildlife rangers who roam the grounds ever caught a glimpse.
During the last few years, Skunk Ape sightings have started to surface again within the Ochapee, Florida area which is remarkably close to the original sightings. On one instance, tourists whom were touring the Everglades stated seeing an ape like creature roaming the nearby swamp. It was also spotted outside the home of a local fire chief, where a man grabbed his camera and photographed the beast as it escaped back into the swampland. The picture shows a large creature but the man who took it could as well have been a man in an ape suit. With direct witness statements like that, could the Skunk ape be real?