Have you ever heard the legend of the Honey Island Swamp monster? For decades now this mysterious monster has been making news all across Louisiana. You won’t believe the mystery that surrounds this area!

The Honey Island Swamp Monster has been rumored to exist for decades, although the first report appears to have been issued in 1963.
Flickr.com / Ken Morse
In that year, Harlan Ford, an air traffic controller, reportedly saw the creature while he was taking wildlife photography. A photo of the monster was supposedly found on a roll of his super 8 film.
The monster has been described as being 7 feet tall, with gray hair and yellow or red eyes.
Flickr.com / notnyt
Apparently he also carried a very strong stench - some even describing it as the stench of death.
Ford continued to hunt for the creature throughout the 60s and 70s, and the Swamp Monster gained national fame when he claimed to discover footprints in the area with his friend Billy Mills.
Flickr.com / gsloan
In truth, though, the legend of the swamp monster began hundreds of years before, as the Native Americans in the area named a swamp creature Letiche, describing him as flesh eating, water dwelling, and humanoid in character.

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Other legends continue to swirl around this swamp creature, including one about a train wreck that occurred outside of Pearl River in the 20th century.
Flickr.com / mksfca
In this story, a train filled with circus animals took a spill outside of the Honey Island Swamp, causing numerous tropical beasts to escape into the cypress trees. A troop of chimpanzees were said to survive, and somehow breed with the surrounding swamp creatures to form the swamp monster.
Since coming into national consciousness in the 1970s, the swamp monster has been all over popular culture.
Flickr.com / Harvey Finch
Images of the swamp monster have appeared in numerous comic books, and has also appeared in TV Shows, films, and literature like the novel "It" by Stephen King and the 1982 film "Swamp Thing," a DC comic character.
Of course, the existence of the swamp monster is not avowed by everyone.
Flickr.com / Paul Mannix
Most notably, Paul Wagner, who runs nature tours in the area, denies ever witnessing such a monster.
But that hasn't stopped numerous curious and intrepid visitors from exploring the Honey Island Swamp to discover what they find there.
Flickr.com / leighklotz
If you haven't scheduled your adventure in this gorgeous swamp yet, maybe you should!

Have you ever spotted any signs of the Swamp Monster? What would make you believe? Do you know any other legends about the monster that we left out here? Let us know in the comments below – we love to hear your stories! And if you want to hear more legends of spooky monsters in Louisiana, check out our article on the Rougarou!

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