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Skunk Ape Sighting In Myakka Florida; Is This Bigfoot's Cousin? (VIDEO)

Skunk Ape Sighting In Florida (VIDEO)
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A Florida man thinks he spotted an elusive Skunk Ape on camera -- and by "elusive" we mean probably nonexistent.

But now, his poor-quality photos and video have sparked a heated debate.

Mike Falconer, 45, pulled his truck over in March when he saw something roaming around in a field at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County, the Sun Sentinel reported this week. He and his son can be seen in the short video chasing down what they think is a Skunk Ape -- a large, stinky beast and reputed cousin of Bigfoot etched in Florida lore.

Falconer told the site that he wasn't looking for the creature when he pulled over. But he did capture a large figure in the brush. It's hard to tell what, if anything, can be seen in the photos and video. He said he plans on carrying a better camera with him at all times in case another Skunk Ape crosses his path.

Sightings of the Skunk Ape are relatively common in Florida and North Carolina, Patch reports. In 2000, a Sarasota woman took photos of what she first thought was an orangutan near I-75. Others think she captured a Skunk Ape on camera (photo below).

What do you think of Falconer's video?

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Before You Go

The Legend of Bigfoot Continues
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This still image taken from a 1977 film purports to show Bigfoot in California. (credit:AP)
(02 of21)
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A film still shows what former rodeo rider Roger Patterson said is the American version of the Abominable Snowman of Nepal and Tibet. The film of the tall creature was shot by Patterson and Robert Gimlin northeast of Eureka, Calif., in October 1967. (credit:Bettmann / Corbis)
Ohio Bigfoot Encounter -- April 2012(03 of21)
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As a motor biker was driving through the Grand River area of Ohio in April 2012, an alleged Bigfoot ran across the road and was caught on videotape. (credit:HowTo101Channel / YouTube)
(04 of21)
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Depicted is an illustration of a creature reported to inhabit the Kemerovo region of Siberia. Scientists from the U.S., Russia and other countries have yet to find one of these creatures known as the Russian Snowman. In early October, researchers claimed to be 95 percent certain that the animal exists. (credit:International Cryptozoology Museum)
(05 of21)
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An alleged footprint of a Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, appears in snow near Mount Everest in 1951. Now, scientists are setting out to find evidence of a reported unknown, hairy, bipedal creature known as the Siberian Snowman. (credit:Topical Press Agency, Getty Images)
(06 of21)
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Bigfoot or bear? Impression left on the driver's side window of a pickup truck owned by Jeffrey Gonzalez. The bizarre image was left by an alleged Bigfoot in California's Sierra National Forest over Memorial Day 2011. DNA samples of the impressions will eventually determine the identity of the animal responsible for them. (See next slide for a close-up of the paw-like impression.) (credit:Mickey Burrow)
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Close-up of the "paw" print image. The impression was reportedly left by Bigfoot on the window of a pickup truck in the California Sierra National Forest over Memorial Day weekend 2011. (credit:Mickey Burrow)
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Bigfoot or bear? Pictured is a second impression left on the rear side window of the same truck from the previous slides. According to forensic/law enforcement photographer Mickey Burrow, "What you're seeing is a swipe mark. It looks like a small hand, swiping to the left, leaving another impression, and there's hair within those areas -- you can see where the hair would be." (credit:Mickey Burrow)
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This footprint was found over Memorial Day weekend, 2011, near Fresno, Calif. by a group of campers who were on a Bigfoot-hunting expedition. The print, measuring approximately 12 inches, was found near a truck where possible DNA evidence was left behind by more than one Bigfoot creature. (credit:Copyright Jeffrey Gonzalez)
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This footprint was found in 2008 in the Sierra National Forest near Fresno, Calif. (credit:Copyright David Raygoza)
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Thomas Byers snapped this photo of "Bigfoot" along Golden Valley Church Road in Rutherford County on March 22, 2011. (credit:Courtesy Thomas Byers)
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Bill Willard is the leader of a group searching for evidence of a Sasquatch or Bigfoot creature, spotted by, among others, his two sons in Spotsylvania County. He is shown on May 19 in Thornburg, Va., with a plaster cast he made from a suspicious footprint several years ago. (credit:Bill O'Leary, Washington Post / Getty Images)
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This still frame image from video provided by Bigfoot Global LLC shows what Whitton and Dyer claimed was a Bigfoot or Sasquatch creature in an undisclosed area of a northern Georgia forest in June 2008. (credit:Bigfoot Global LLC / AP)
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This October 2007 image was taken by an automated camera set up by a hunter in a Pennsylvania forest the previous month. Some said it was a Bigfoot creature; others believed it was just a sick bear. (credit:Rick Jacobs, AP)
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A preserved skull and hand said to be that of a Yeti or Abominable Snowman is on display at Pangboche monastery, near Mount Everest. (credit:Ernst Haas, Getty Images)
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Idaho State University professor Jeffrey Meldrum displays what he said is a cast of a Bigfoot footprint from eastern Washington in September 2006. Some scientists said the school should revoke Meldrum's tenure. (credit:Jesse Harlan Alderman, AP)
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Joedy Cook, director of the Ohio Center for Bigfoot Studies, talks to a visitor to his booth on Oct. 15, 2005, at the Texas Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson, Texas. The event, hosted by the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, drew enthusiasts and researchers of the legendary creature. (credit:D.J. Peters, AP)
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Ken Gerhard of Houston, Texas, holds a duplicate plaster cast footprint Oct. 15, 2005, at the Texas Bigfoot Conference. The event, hosted by the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, drew enthusiasts and researchers of the legendary creature. (credit:D.J. Peters, AP)
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Josh Gates, host of Syfy TV's "Destination: Truth," holds a plaster cast of what Malaysian ghost hunters said was a Bigfoot footprint in 2006. (credit:Seekers-Malaysia / AP)
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Al Hodgson, a volunteer guide at the Willow Creek-China Flat Musuem in California, holds up a plaster cast of an alleged Bigfoot imprint in 2000. The museum houses a collection of research material donated by the estate of Bob Titmus, who spent his life trying to track the creature. (credit:Rich Pedroncelli, AP)
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Costume maker Philip Morris, who does not believe the Bigfoot legend, claimed the Patterson-Gimlin film showed a person wearing a gorilla suit that he made. (credit:T. Ortega Gaines, Charlotte Observer / MCT)
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