Maybe their just spouting off…just running their mouths sorta speak.

I am very familiar with the area in question the headwaters of the Myakka River (Myakka City) are only 30 miles or so from my residence. I have kayaked the Myakka Park extensively and agree with the above poster that the location is not in a palmetto grove. The lushness typified in the video could still be possible in May if the sighting was near the river. 2010 saw early wet weather with 8.4 inches of rain in June. The actual video location seems to be well south–southwest of Myakka city undoubtedly very near the river. I have been planning an expedition into the upper Myakka for a couple of years now. Ill health caused a postponement but at this time were on schedule again with an expanded set of specific goals and new yet untried methods.

After looking at this video many, many times I agree it could be a hoax…but it could just as easily be the real deal too. The video is just not clear enough to tip the scale one way or another. I have a friend who has told me of (3) incredibly loud screams heard while fishing with her boyfriend in the upper Myakka. She tells me that she experienced immediate nausea and paralyzing dread while she was hearing the screams (she literally could not paddle the kayak) with the fear feelings persisting for 30 minutes after leaving the area and while driving home. Her boyfriend was not so affected as she was but experienced a very discernible uneasiness. I know my friend is not fabricating this report as I have known her well for a long time.

It struck me that the important question of costumed human vs unknown primate wasn’t addressed nearly as much as pointing out a lot of blurry features that could easily be added to a human form via costume…

So, I got bored and thought only in terms of things I am fairly familiar with. Albeit blurry, there was not a palmetto in sight. A surprising thing to find in a ‘palmetto grove’ near Myakka City. Instead, I saw a readily identifiable Red maple (Acer rubrum), wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) and likely false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) ground cover. If you are near Myakka City and see these plants, you are likely in a swamp fringe, and nowhere near (relatively) palmetto. If it was actually filmed in May, that corresponds to the near peak of the dry season in Myakka City and the vegetation seems a little bit too lush; the long awaited summer rains have not hit yet by May. Not sure that has a lot of meaning, just seems a bit out of place.

But, in contrast to the original Myakka Skunk Ape photos (which were presumably taken a long way from Myakka City – in that they showed a likely escaped orangutan from much further downstream along the Myakka as is winds its way to Charlotte Harbor, near the Ringling Circus wintering grounds), palmetto fronds were in frame, same depth as the animal, and provided a nice comparison for scale.

In that overall context, it looks like a hoax to me, and was tagged with the Myakka name to capitalize on name recognition.

In terms of the narration, I have to disagree with the others. I like the informal nature of the analysis. It seems to fit the off the cuff nature of the videos. The last thing I want to hear is the new car sales delivery of a Discovery or History Channel narrator but that’s personal preference.