A Floridian described the encounter that he and his mother had with a large Skunk Ape when he was a boy living near Green Swamp in Polk County. The beast had mutilated and killed a calf.
"As a native Floridian and avid hunter growing up I've seen and have heard lots of things in the woods around our great state. Some things were easy to understand and some things were just not explainable. Anyway, this is my and my mother's story.
I had her proofread this before sending it to make sure I remember this correctly. It's the Fall of 1976 and I was five years old. My mom and I lived in Kathleen, Florida on the edge of the Green Swamp. Back then it was a dirt road and there were only a couple of houses on the road and a relatively new trailer park at the end of the road. We had to drive a little less than half a mile back down our trail of a driveway to get to our home. It was an old wood frame home that was over 100 years old. We had an Artesian well pump in the kitchen and for the first few months we lived there we had to heat the water on the gas stove to have hot bath water. This was an old cracker house on blocks and had a front porch that I used to play under all the time. The roof of the porch was on a pitch and the edge was over the wooden stairs. It measured seven foot six from the ground to the roof line.
So, it was nearly desk when my mom and I were coming down the drive in her VW Bus. She had lights on high to spot any deer that might be on the property. As we rounded the curve in the driveway and the lights shined on the house that's when we both saw it and it was big and broad and looking directly at our car. Now I'm not going to tell you it had big red eyes. The eye shine that I saw for only a split second was golden. It turned and walked down the side of the house between the cow pasture fence and the house. My mom hit the gas and went around the great oak tree that was at the corner of the porch. She got around the side of the house and we saw nothing. She grabbed a .38 revolver and jumped out of the car telling me to lock the doors. Little good that would have done looking back.
So, with the car off headlights shining and my mom at our fence line, she stood and stayed quiet. Our hunting dogs that were in their kennels were whimpering. They normally barked at anything when we came home. Not this night. They were scared. There's more to the story.
The next day we looked for prints. The porch and the oak tree size is relevant because it's what we used to size up our guest. The creature was standing next to our porch and his head was just under the edge of the roof seven foot six at the edge of the overhang. So now, being older and having a firm grasp on measurement, I'm guessing this thing was seven feet tall. It was nearly as thick or wide as the great oak tree. Based on what our landlord later told us, it was about 90 years old.
We had cows and hunting dogs. We even had a calf that was about 400 pounds or so that I would hand feed and had bottle-fed because his mother died shortly after birthing. Anyway, my mom was calling the calf to get him to come to the fence. It wouldn't come. She called again. Nothing. Silence. All of a sudden we heard the most God-awful scream from what we thought was that calf. And then, nothing.
So, this whole time, I'm in the car. The door is locked and the windows cracked so I could hear. My mom ran back to the car. I opened her door and she backed us out of there quick and went to her girlfriend's house who lived about a half hour away. Mom was rattled. She talked the whole way.
"Did you see it?"
"Yes Mama, I saw it. It was big and hairy."
"Did you hear the calf?" she asked.
"Mom I did! You think it's dead Mama? "Do you smell it?"
She slammed on the brakes and nearly put me in the dash. "You could smell it too?"
"Yes. It stunk bad. Worse than the dogs."
We got to my mom's friend's house and she got on the phone with Mr. Goldsby. He was the landlord. She nervously told him what happened. She nearly dropped the phone. He said it was a Skunk Ape. It's been around for years. Damn thing stinks too.
The next day we went home and met with Mr. Goldsby. He came to the house to see if we could find anything. We found footprints right by the porch where it stood when we saw it. We measured them and they were just over 15 inches long. Several tracks led to the fence. These tracks had nearly a 60-inch stride in between.
Mom and Mr. Goldsby went into the cow pasture. She wouldn't let me come because there was a lot of Dog Fennel growing all around and some Palmetto patches. They found the calf. It was dead and his neck and head had been pulled up and backward to where his spine was pulled up past his shoulders and broken. Mom said there was very blood around. My mom asked Mr. Goldsby why he didn't tell us about this before. He simply said he was so used to it coming around and not bothering anything that he didn't think he needed to.
We moved two weeks later."
Transcribed source: The Facts by Howtohunt.com
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PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO BLOG POSTS BEGINNING THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, AND FOR SEVERAL DAYS AFTERWARDS. I AM HAVING SURGERY THAT WILL REQUIRE SOME HOSPITAL RECOVERY. THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING. LON
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Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
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