Honey Island Swamp monster
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Honey Island Swamp monster
|AKA = Cajun Sasquatch, La Bête Noire
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|Folklore = Cryptid
|Grouping =
|Country = United States
|Region = Louisiana
|Details =
|First_Attested = 1963
|Similar_entities = Fouke Monster, Skunk Ape}}
{{Paranormal}}
{{short description|Cryptid in Louisiana folklore}}
The Honey Island Swamp Monster, also known as the Cajun Sasquatch and in {{langx|frc|La Bête Noire}},{{cite web |last1=Mikells |first1=Bruce |title=Cajun Sasquatch? Here's Where to Look for Him |url=https://973thedawg.com/cajun-sasquatch-heres-where-to-look-for-him-video/ |website=973thedawg.com |publisher=WDGG |access-date=4 April 2021 |date=22 January 2014}} is an ape-like humanoid cryptid creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, purported to inhabit the Honey Island Swamp in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.{{cite web |title=Honey Island Swamp Monster |url=http://www.pearlriverecotours.com/legends |website=pearlriverecotours.com |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903174456/http://www.pearlriverecotours.com/legends |url-status=dead }} It has become a part of Louisiana folklore, with many swamp tour companies in the area capitalizing on its alleged existence,{{cite web |title=Big Foot |url=https://www.honeyislandswamp.com/bigfoot.html |website=honeyislandswamp.com |access-date=10 March 2021}} which is considered unlikely by scientists.
Description
The creature is commonly described by alleged witnesses as a large, bipedal, humanoid, about {{convert|7|ft|m|0}} tall, covered with gray hair, having yellow or red eyes and accompanied by a putrid odor. Other local names for the creature include the Louisiana Wookiee, and The Thing.{{cite journal |last1=Leary |first1=Frances |date=December 2003 |title=The Honey Island Swamp Monster: The Development and Maintenance of Folk and Commodified Belief Tradition |url=https://research.library.mun.ca/10863/1/Leary_Frances.pdf |journal=Memorial University of Newfoundland |pages=4–5 |access-date=10 March 2021}} Alleged plaster casts of footprints said to be from the creature showcase four toes; not a natural trait found in primates, who possess five.{{cite web |title=Honey Island Swamp Monster Footprint |url=http://ucmmuseum.com/honeyislandswampmonster.htm |website=ucmmuseum.com |publisher=Abita Mystery House |access-date=10 March 2021}}
Claims of its existence are generally not considered credible, including by scientists familiar with the area like ecologist Paul Wagner and his wife Sue. Neither they nor their Cajun guide, Robbie Charbonnet, report having seen any valid evidence beyond anecdotes and possible forgeries.{{cite journal |last=Nickell |first=Joe |date=July–August 2001 |title=Tracking the Swamp Monsters |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=25 |issue=4 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry |accessdate=19 March 2013 |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/tracking_the_swamp_monsters/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925135750/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/tracking_the_swamp_monsters/|archive-date=25 September 2009|url-status=dead}}
History
The first claimed sighting was in 1963 by Harlan Ford, a retired air traffic controller who had taken up wildlife photography. After his death in 1980, a reel of Super 8 film showing the creature was found among his belongings.{{Cite episode|title=Bigfoot in the Bayou|episode-link=|series=America Unearthed|series-link=America Unearthed|network=Travel Channel|date=9 July 2019|season=4|number=7|last=Wolter|first=Scott}}
In 1974, Ford and his friend Billy Mills claimed to have found unusual footprints in the area, as well as the body of a wild boar whose throat had been gashed.{{cite web |title=Swamp Creature |url=http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/lost-tapes/creatures/swamp-creature/ |website=animalplanet.com |publisher=Animal Planet |access-date=10 March 2021}}
Today, the creature is still purported to inhabit the swamp and the bayous along the Pearl River.{{cite web |title=Honey Island Swamp Monster |url=http://msgulfcoastheritage.ms.gov/historic/sites/honey-island-swamp-monster/ |website=msgulfcoastheritage.ms.gov |access-date=10 March 2021}} Local lore tells of a train crash that occurred near the swamp in the early 20th century in which a traveling circus lost chimpanzees who adapted to the environment and offer a potential explanation as to the creature's origins.{{cite web |title=Honey Island Swamp Monster |url=https://www.cajunencounters.com/blog/tour-the-honey-island-swamp/ |website=cajunencounters.com |date=23 September 2020 |access-date=10 March 2021}}
Popular culture
- The Honey Island Swamp monster was the subject of The Secret Saturdays episode "Ghost in the Machine" with its vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker.{{cite episode |title=Ghost in the Machine |series=The Secret Saturdays |airdate=15 May 2009 |network=Cartoon Network |season=1 |number=15}} The animated monster resembled a Bigfoot-like creature with crab-like claws.
- The creature was featured in an episode of Lost Tapes, "Swamp Creature."{{cite episode |title=Swamp Creature |series=Lost Tapes |airdate=6 January 2009 |network=Animal Planet |season=1 |number=4}}
- It was the subject of an episode of In Search of..., "The Swamp Monster."{{cite episode |title=The Swamp Monster |series=In Search of... |airdate=4 March 1978 |network=syndicated |season=2 |number=16}}
- It was a subject of an episode of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, "Bayou Beast/River Ghost," showing Mr. Ford's original film. The investigators were able to recreate Ford's footage with a man dressed in a camouflage ghillie suit used by hunters. They deduced the film could simply be mistaken identity on Ford's part, but didn't rule out that such a creature could exist.
- An episode of Swamp People, "Full Moon Fever,"{{cite episode |title=Full Moon Fever |series=Swamp People |airdate=26 May 2011 |network=History |season=2 |number=9}} includes a segment in which a group of people, Harlan Ford's granddaughter among them, are searching for the monster.
- The creature was featured in a segment of the series Monsters and Mysteries in America, "The Swamp." Super 8 footage of the monster was shown in the segment.{{cite episode |title=The Swamp |series=Monsters and Mysteries in America |airdate=21 April 2013 |network=Destination America |season=1 |number=5}}
- It was featured in a segment of a 2012 episode of Mysteries at the Museum.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2249460/ |title=Mysteries at the Museum {{!}} Exorcism, Honey Island Swamp Monster, the Real James Bond, La Belle Shipwereck, Sgt. Stubby |website=IMDb |accessdate=January 8, 2023}}
- On July 20, 2013, Mattel introduced the Monster High character Honey Swamp as the daughter of Honey Island Swamp monster at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con.
- In 2019, an episode of America Unearthed titled "Bigfoot in the Bayou" investigated possible sightings. Presenter Scott Wolter concluded that the smell attributed to the creature was most likely methane produced by decomposing plants.
- Eoin Colfer drew inspiration from the Honey Island Swamp monster for the character Vern in his novel Highfire.{{cite web |title=From Artemis Fowl to a vodka-guzzling dragon |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/from-artemis-fowl-to-a-vodka-guzzling-dragon |website=The Straits Times |accessdate=11 March 2020 |language=en |date=11 February 2020}}
- A version of the Honey Island Swamp monster is included in the role-playing game supplement GURPS Monsters.{{cite book|title=GURPS Monsters|publisher=Steve Jackson Games|editor-last=Johnson|editor-first=J. Hunter|editor-link=J. Hunter Johnson|year=2001|location=Austin, Texas|isbn=1-55634-518-6|pages=38–39}}
- The Honey Island Swamp Monster is featured in the video game South of Midnight. It is depicted as a giant made of leaves, vines and branches. The main character, Hazel, encounters him on her way through an abandoned settlement that used to house plantation slave refugees. Hazel later finds out that he is a transformed baby who perished in the waters of the swamp when his mother tried to escape from plantation slavery.