The Myth
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Myths of Apemen and Bigfoot distract from the scientific research I am trying to accomplish. However, it is foolish to completely discredit them after all, stories of the skunk ape have been around for about 150 years. There must be some truth to the persistence of these common stories.
The earliest occurrence of tales about this creature are from the Miccosukee Indians. These tales tell of a beast larger than a man with a putrid odor that would raid the village's livestock. It was also called a guardian of the swamp and respected and feared by the people. during colonial times the skunk ape was thought of as a wildman. )
Believed to live on the outskirts of town, a pariah to society, and viewed with lots of superstition. The skunk ape was avoided or, at the most panicked and frantic times, was hunted.
As stories surfaced of yetis in the far east and sasquatch or big foot in the north west, the skunk ape started to be recognized likewise as an apeman monster. with the release of recording material such as portable cameras. people started searching for these rare animals to prove their existence and this is when the legends really started. Tabloids found Apemen to be a wonderful sales tool. )
There have been dozens of articles about ape men for example: "Bigfoot kept lumberjack as loveslave." or "Sasquatch escapes and kills 12." Hollywood got hold of the hype while the search was becoming popular and of course blew things out of proportion. Several movies were made extolling the furious man eating man-beast which ravages the wild. These movies simply promote lies and irrational fear of the unknown species of ape. The skunk ape, exspecially, has several paranormal traits attached. The skunk ape is said to have glowing red eyes and to be bullet proof while in a rage. this animal is said to be ten feet tall and has at certain times even been feared as a man eater. these attributes are unscientific and improbable at best.