Page 85 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 65

an early analysis of hair samples taken by a Area residents also complained about the
British expedition to the mountain rainforest Sandman or Skunk Ape peeping in their win-
near Gunung Kerinci in western Sumatra did dows at night. Others said that they had had
not appear to have come from any known pri- garbage cans upset by a huge creature that
mate in the area. Adam Davies, the leader of retreated into the night when they clicked on
the expedition, stated that he had no doubt yardlights. The more observant eyewitnesses
that orang pendek truly exists. described the nocturnal marauder as standing
between six and seven feet tall and weighing
M Delving Deeper
somewhere between 300 and 400 pounds.
Henderson, Mark. “Team ‘Find Traces of Sumatran
Nearly every witness mentioned the terrible
Yeti.’” The Times, October 29, 2001. [Online]
stench that accompanied the giant intruder.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001373
161,00.html.
Heuvelmans, Bernard. On the Track of Unknown Ani-
mals. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958.
THE Skunk Apes’ hair absorbs the stench of
“Man-Beast Hunts in the Far East.” Fortean Times 83
(October/November 1995): 18–19. rotting animal carcasses left behind by alligators.
Martyr, Deborah. “An Investigation of the Orang-
Pendek, the ‘Short Man’ of Sumatra.” Cryptozool-
ogy 9 (1990): 57–65.
According to some of its pursuers, the crea-
Sanderson, Ivan T. Abominable Snowmen: Legend
ture lives in muddy and abandoned alligator
Come to Life. Philadelphia: Chilton, 1961.
caves deep in the steamy Everglades swamp.
The alligators leave the rotting remains of their
Skunk Ape kills behind to putrefy in the heat of their hide-
With the rash of media reports about Bigfoot aways, and the Skunk Apes absorb the stench
sightings beginning in the late 1950s and early into their hair, thus accounting for their awful
1960s, Floridians began coming forward to smell. Although the Skunk Ape is said to be
make their encounters with their “Skunk Ape” primarily a vegetarian and often steals produce
known. As with Bigfoot in the Northwestern from area gardens, Everglades hunters claim to
United States and Sasquatch in Canada, leg- have seen the giant kill a deer and split open its
ends of an apelike monster that haunts the belly to get at the liver and entrails.
more remote areas of Florida have been in cir- In 1980, large footprints, complete with
culation since the early days of that state’s his- the impression of toes, were found in the
tory. And as with the legends of the hairy giants Ocala National Forest. The sheriff’s depart-
of the North, members of Native American ment estimated that the unknown creature
tribes insisted the centuries-old tales were true. that had made the prints was about 10 feet tall
On December 5, 1966, Orlando Sentinel and weighed around 1,000 pounds.
staff writer Elvis Lane wrote about two On Monday evening, July 21, 1997, Vince
hunters who claimed to have wounded the Doerr, chief of the Ochopee Fire Central Dis-
monster. Although it left a trail of blood, the trict, told the Miami Herald that he had seen
creature—at that time dubbed the “Florida “a brown-looking tall thing” run across the
Sandman,” in contrast to the “Abominable road ahead of him. He was certain that the
Snowman”—seemed relatively unscathed by thing was not a bear. Ochopee borders the
their volley, and the two men fled in the Everglades, and a few days after Doerr’s sight-
opposite direction. In another report, Lane ing, a group of six British tourists and their
described how the son of a ranch hand had guide, Dan Rowland, saw a Skunk Ape on
gone to investigate the sounds of someone Turner River Road, just north of the town.
opening their garage and had surprised the According to Rowland’s statement in the
hairy giant raising the door. When the young Miami Herald (July 28, 1997), the unknown
man shouted his alarm, the monster threw a apelike creature was between six and seven
heavy tire at him. feet tall, “flat-faced, broad-shouldered, cov-

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