I talk about the strange and the unexplained of the US state of Florida such as the Skunk ape and a few obscure lake monsters said to be existing there.

1. Post author By Charlie August 17, 2020
Mysterious Florida – Smelly Bigfoot and Obscure
Lake Monsters
theweeklyrambler.com/mysterious-florida-smelly-bigfoot-and-obscure-lake-monsters/
Featured Image (Map) source: Here.
Florida is a state found in the southeastern United States and is bordered by the states
of Alabama and Georgia and has a vast coast that stretches around much of the state
which includes the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, there are many barrier islands
around the state, there are also nearby island nations of The Bahamas and Cuba. The
state capital is Tallahassee and the largest city is Jacksonville, other well-known cities
include Orlando, Tampa and Miami. Florida is the 3 most populous state.rd
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2. Florida has the longest coastline in the contiguous US and the 2 highest number of
islands behind Alaska, with Florida having over 4,000 barrier islands and is only one of
two tropical weather states with the other being Hawaii. Hawaii is also the only state to
have a Barrier Reef. Much of the state is low-lying with the north having a higher
elevation than the south, there are rolling hills in central and north Florida but overall,
on average Florida is the flattest US state.
The state economy is largely contributed to by tourism, being the most obvious due to
the state’s climate and its internationally known tourist attractions such as the
amusement parks of Orlando, the state’s beaches and barrier islands and also places
such as the Everglades National Park, among much more, other heavily contributing
sectors are agriculture and transportation. The state economy is one of the largest in the
world and the 3 largest out of the US states, the economy is diversified and so many
other sectors also contribute such as construction, international banking, biomedical
and life sciences, healthcare research, aerospace and defense, commercial space travel,
with Florida often being the site of NASA and SpaceX launches, Cape Canaveral is in the
state.
Other large sectors are trade, utilities, government, business services, education, health
services and of course leisure and hospitality.
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3. One of two photos of an unidentified primate by an
anonymous woman, dubbed as evidence of the Skunk Ape by
many.
Now that that’s over with let’s get on to the strange and unexplained side of the state.
One of the first cryptids that comes to mind when talking about Florida is the Skunkape
which is pretty much Florida’s version of the Bigfoot. I have already covered the
Skunkape in a former blogpost in my previous Paranormal Alphabet series, but I will go
over it again here as it is almost unique to the state.
Although the Skunkape is said to have been seen in some other southeastern states,
Florida is one of its apparent most common stomping grounds and is said to especially
like the swampier areas such as the Everglades for example. The reason it is called the
Skunkape is due to the creature said to have a very foul aroma about it, which can be a
common trait of Bigfoot and apemen sightings, but the Skunkape is said to take it to
another level, there are some theories that its disgusting smell can be a defensive
mechanism or even a way to mark its territory to ward off intruders.
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4. The Skunkape like most bigfoots is said to be very large in stature and also very tall, as
much as 8ft in height, its fur is also described as being more of a reddish colour rather
than a darker brown like what is described in many other Bigfoot sightings in places
such as California, although some sightings have also claimed darker fur. There are also
two photos that were taken by an anonymous woman and sent to authorities which
complained of an “orangutan” stealing her fruits, but what was odd about the photos
were the strange proportions of the creature and the fact its eyes glowed as if reflecting
light, something most primates, including orangutans, are unable to do, the oddities
surrounding the photos have led many to dub it as the best evidence of the existence of
the Skunkape.
Some have claimed that the creature could simply have been some kind of escaped
primate or a primate let loose by an owner who no longer wanted it and may have been
kept illegally, while others say it is misidentification of animals such as Black Bears.
There have been a large number of documented sightings, such include a 1957 sighting
where a hunter in the Everglades believed he was observing a bear only for it to stand
up, reaching a staggering height of 8ft prompting the hunter to run away. Another
sighting from 1971 had a group of four men observing four man-like animals on an
embankment outside of a large forest, they were furry, with large heads and long arms
which were disproportionate to their body size and they were picking fruits.
Sightings have often been claimed by tourist guides in the Everglades and local Native
American tribes’ people have also expressed strong belief in the creature’s existence. To
read more check out my post on the Skunkape.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Another less credible Bigfoot tale is one known as the Bardin Booger, said to have been
seen by residents of the town of Bardin in and around the nearby woods. Many believe
that it was all likely a hoax for some kind of publicity and a way to sell merchandise
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5. related to the apparent creature. Tracks of the creature were said to have been found
but no physical evidence such as casts of photographs exists for these claims.
The creature itself also has an odd and quite fanciful description, with a book called
Weird U.S by Moran and Sceurman describing it as being the size of a Bear with a pig’s
nose, a long red tongue that would protrude out of its mouth and that it would walk
with a stride that was longer than a human could muster.
The creature in the local area is said to be a common campfire story to scare kids and I
would also likely guess myself that it is used as some kind of boogie man to scare kids
into behaving themselves. Whether the creature is real is another question, the exact
iteration of the creature likely isn’t real but it could have simply been a sighting of
a Skunkape, there have been sightings of a Bigfoot type creature in the area by some
residents.
I just thought it’d be something to add on here after Skunkape as it is kind of related
and it is also something very obscure to Florida in this realm.
Lake Clinch borders Frosproof, residents of this city have claimed sightings of a monster in
the lake. Photo by Ebyabe from Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 2.5. Source.
Next up is a lake monster called the Lake Clinch Monster, it is actually quite obscure
and not many really seem to know of it and there is very little visible information of it
out there, but there is a very short 23rd March, 1937 newspaper article in The Tampa
Tribune that speaks of a large serpent in Lake Clinch from records dating back to 1907
where it was reported by Frostproof residents, a city that borders the lake, it was
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6. described at least 30ft in length and cavorting around in the lakes’ waters. The short
column said that the serpent had been seen again and, probably jokingly, advised
fishermen to carry a heavy tackle.
Lake Clinch itself is a natural freshwater lake found on the west-side of the city of
Frostproof, much housing exists around the lake and a park on its eastern shore but
there is no public swimming area but it does include a public boat ramp. Surface area is
1,219 acres with the average depth being 16ft and the max at 55ft.
Other descriptions of the creature give it a humped back, long neck, flippers and that it
may be coloured green and black with a yellowish hue.
An apparent water cryptid has brought tourist attention and commercial profit to Lake Worth
Beach. Photo by Elisa.rolle from Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.
Sticking to the topic of water-based cryptids we have next up something called the Muck
Monster. This water cryptid is said to reside in the Lake Worth lagoon, which is a body
of water separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands in the city of Lake Worth
Beach in Palm Beach county.
This cryptid came about after two members of LagoonKeepers.org captured a video of
something rippling under the water that kept moving away from them in the lagoon, of
which they originally thought was a log, but upon attempting to remove it from the
lagoon it would move away from them or submerge under water, which meant it must
have been some kind of creature, but as to what it is not yet known, it has been dubbed
as the Muck Monster since then.
The video of the original sighting can be viewed here.
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7. Since then the Muck Monster has become a sort of commercial symbol for the local area
with merchandise being sold and local restaurant’s selling meals named after the
monster and local government even dubbed the monster an official resident of Lake
Worth Beach. Feeding stations were also set up along the lagoon for tourists hoping for
a glimpse of the monster, although it has not been seen again since its original sighting
in August 2009.
Some say that the creature could merely have just been an otter, seal, alligator or
manatee just under the surface of the water.
That shall be it for Florida! Next up we will be doing the strange and the unexplained of
the US state of West Virginia.
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