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The Southernmost
Bigfoot
In The U.S.A.

The Myakka "Skunk Ape" Photographs
By Loren Coleman

Two remarkable new photographs of what may be a Florida Skunk Ape have been discovered through an interesting chain of events by Sarasota resident and animal welfare specialist David Barkasy. Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America overviews how these photographs were taken, how this find surfaced, the first reactions and analyses, and some tentative conclusions. For the time being, certain supportive notes will remain, here, available and online

Here is the December 22, 2000, letter signed "God Bless. I prefer to remain anonymous" mailed to the Sarasota Sheriff's Department.

Newspapers in Florida, the Art Bell show, and other radio programs during mid-February, decided to talk about the Myakka photographs. The hope is that the woman photographer will be identified.

In the meantime, meaningful analyses of the eyeshine, the pupil diameter, the dentition, the tongue, hair color, and exhibited behavior of this apparent primate is taking place.

These Coleman enlargements and details were created from the first generation color prints scanned by David Barkasy of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department's originals. These prints show forehead lines, yellow canines, fingernails, hair, and other significant details. Copyright 2001 by David Barkasy and Loren Coleman

At right: A young male Sumatran Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus abelii, American Museum of Natural History.

Below: Concurrent with my thinking, Tony Scheuhamme, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, pointed out some features on a good photograph of an orangutan by Denise McQuillen. This is not to say the Myakka photographs are of an orangutan, but it certainly assists in identifying features that are found on a known anthropoid that appear to exist on this one too.

The Myakka ape head closeup Copyright 2001 by David Barkasy and Loren Coleman. Compared with a Sumatran Orangutan's head, photograph at the Cincinnati Zoo by Denise McQuillen, 1999; Reprinted with permission.

Could this be a "Skunk Ape." an as yet-undiscovered large anthropoid, per the "Unknown Pongid" type discussed in The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide (NY: Avon, 1999)?

See more on Skunk Apes in Cryptozoology A to Z and Mysterious America: The Revised Edition

The Myakka Ape Photographs are only the most recent of a long history of Skunk Ape and related mystery anthropoid reports. I have files, and letters from people that lived along the east-central coast of Florida (mostly in the Holopaw-Brooksville area) who related to me their series of encounters with apelike animals, especially during the 1963-1968 period. We should not be surprised that the Everglades may not be the key to solving this mystery, but the Myakka area may.

More illustrative material Update 26 February 2001

Myakka Investigation Update 20 June 2001

We are following leads to attempt to discover the photographer.

(Photo credit: John Mackinnon's In Search of the Red Ape (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974).

Looks like Harry and the Hendersons...

Would you like to be added to the crypto ping list? Cryptozoological stories are sometimes in short supply on FR but some interesting stuff can get posted (however, on crypto threads, be prepared to see TONS of pictures of Helen Thomas or Janet Reno, because for some reason people think it's just hilarious to post those).