The Myakka Skunk Ape Photographs — Sarasota County, Florida (2000)

In 2000, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office received an anonymous letter accompanied by two photographs purporting to show a Skunk Ape. The letter, written by an elderly woman, described a creature that had been appearing in her backyard at night to steal apples from a basket on her porch. She wrote that she assumed it was an escaped orangutan and photographed it from her back porch using a flash camera. The photographs show a large, dark, upright figure with glowing eyes standing among palmetto bushes. The images — known as the Myakka photographs or Myakka Skunk Ape photos — became some of the most widely circulated photographic evidence in Skunk Ape lore. Analysis of the images has produced mixed conclusions. Skeptics argue the figure is consistent with someone wearing a costume or, alternatively, an actual escaped orangutan. Proponents note the figure's proportions and posture appear natural rather than costumed. The anonymous nature of the submission has prevented follow-up investigation. David Barkasy and Loren Coleman, who investigated the photographs, considered them intriguing but inconclusive. The Myakka photos contributed to a resurgence of Skunk Ape interest in Florida and are frequently reproduced in books and documentaries about the creature.