"skunk ape"

[Jonathan Lighter]

"a large, foul-smelling hominid said to inhabit parts of Florida"

  1976 _Monsters!_ (NBC-TV): Called the "skunk ape" in Florida, the "sasquatch" in the Pacific Northwest.

  2005 Charlie Carlson _Weird Florida_ (N.Y.: Sterling) 80: Stories about Skunk Ape encounters may go back to early Indian legends, which tell of giants living along the Kissimmee River....Skunk Ape Festival June 12.

  I first heard of the Florida "skunk ape" about 1969. My impression is that it was a recent coinage.

  JL


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