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Skunk Ape
Named for the rank stench that has accompanied its many sightings, the skunk ape is a bipedal primate cryptid that is most commonly spotted in the United States of America's Florida Everglades. Males of the species are generally reported as standing between seven and ten feet tall when upright, and are estimated as weighing anywhere from 350 to 450 pounds. Females are considerably smaller, ranging from five to six feet in height and 180 to 250 pounds in weight. Both males and females are reported as having either reddish or dark brown fur covering the majority of their bodies, similar to the Sumatran Orangutan.
Skunk apes also bear similar features to the orangutan in the facial area, especially the eye ridges, sunken nose, and pronounced chin and lips. Castings of footprints left behind at the sites of sightings lead cryptozoologists to believe that skunk apes have only four toes on each foot. Of course, as stated previously, the key identifying feature of the skunk ape is its unpleasant odor. This stench has been described as similar to rotten eggs, methane, a garbage heap, or (appropriately enough) a road-killed skunk. It is theorized that skunk apes spend a great deal of their time in underground caverns or alligator caves, as the methane produced by decaying matter in these damp, low-lying areas would account for the cryptid's stench.
Like many wild primates, skunk apes are reclusive and difficult to approach. They have exhibited exceptional hearing, and have been known to bolt when startled by oncoming noise. Fleeing skunk apes have been observed running at human-like speeds, generally hunched slightly and flailing their arms. They have also demonstrated great talent in jumping, climbing, and even swimming to escape anything that they view as a potential threat to their safety.
While most sightings have been of individual skunk apes, sightings of groups of them (called "troops") are becoming more and more common. This is especially true in the summer months, which many cryptozoologists have begun to assume to be skunk ape mating season. Professor Hazard theorizes that this is because the heat and humidity, rampant in Florida during the aformentioned time of year, help to exacerbate the cryptids' signature odor.
Droppings found near skunk ape bedding areas suggest that they are omnivorous, feeding on local vegetation like ferns, palms, berries, and acorns, as well as fish, small reptiles, bird hatchlings, and - on rare occasions - even large mammals like deer.
Skunk apes should be regarded as only mildly dangerous. Their size and strength are considerable, but there has never been a documented case of one directly attacking a human being. When threatened, they have always displayed a preference to flee, rather than fight. However, like most greater primates, this odoriferous cryptid may fly into a bone-breaking rage if its territory or young are threatened.
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