Honey Island Swamp monster

The Honey Island Swamp monster is a humanoid cryptid reported from Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana since 1963.

Description

The creature is described as bipedal, seven feet (2.2 metres) tall, with gray hair and yellow eyes. The creature is accompanied by a disgusting smell. ["They described a vicious looking..." in [http://honeyisland.americanmonsters.com/legend.html american monsters.com] ] Footprints supposedly left by the creature have four toes. [ [http://ucmmuseum.com/honeyislandswampmonster.htm Honey Island Swamp Monster at the UCM Museum, Abita Springs, Louisiana ] ]

ightings

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 allegedly found among his belongings. [ [http://www.angelfire.com/la2/SwampMonster/ Honey Island Swamp Monster
Legend Of The Louisiana Honey Island Swamp Monster On DVD
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In 1974 the monster gained national fame after 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. Ford continued to hunt for the creature for the next six years.

Criticism

The idea of a large, ape-like creature in the area is not without its critics, notably the local ecologist Paul Wagner, who with his wife Sue run nature tours in the area. Neither they nor their Cajun guide, Robbie Charbonnet, have seen any evidence for it. ["searching for evidence" in [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-07/i-files.html] another skeptic, naturalist John V. Dennis, also has never seen the monster, although local fishermen have, according to him.]

In folklore

A local legend tells of a train crash in the area in the early twentieth century. A travelling circus was on the train, and from it a group of chimpanzees escaped, and interbred with the local alligator population. ["Perhaps the most bizarre legend..." in [http://honeyisland.americanmonsters.com/legend.html american monsters.com] ]

ee also

* Fouke Monster
* Lake Worth monster
* Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
* Skunk ape

References