Episode 7: The Honey Island Swamp Monster

Mar 6

If the rumors are true, the Honey Island Swamp Monster has been evading discovery for the last sixty years…

Episode Transcript

We all feared them as children. The menacing creatures hiding under the bed along with those fearsome beasts that always seemed ready for a game of chase up the stairs.

For some of us, it was the boogeyman. For others, it was the goblin hiding out in our closets. Each of us had a monster to fear. Something that would keep us up at night, crying out for our equally tired and unamused parents.

Of course, these creatures weren’t real. They were just a figment of our young imaginations. Or at least that’s what our parents assured us, even as we begged them to check the closet one more time and leave the hallway light on.

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Although we get better at hiding them, these fears never really go away. In most cases, the phobia will morph into a more practical and tangible fear. But for some of us, they simply evolve into a fascination with the unknown.

Take Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson, for instance. Both being zoologists by trade, actually dedicated their careers during the 1950s and 60s to the research and documentation of what they called hidden animals.

Simply put, these men spent their lives searching the globe for the monsters we all hid from as children. And in doing so, they paved the way for one of the most fascinating subsets of paranormal research. Though it did come at the expense of their credible reputations.

So let’s take a moment to walk in their shoes and dive head first into the fascinating yet frightening world of cryptozoology. And what better place to start, than the bayou of Louisiana.

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned.

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Upon first glance, the Honey Island swamp of Eastern Louisiana, is by all accounts a peaceful and beautiful place. As its name would suggest, the marshland acts as home and refuge for countless honey bees, along with wild boar, alligators, and on occasion a few species of migratory birds. Not to mention, the area is known as one of the most natural, least-altered River swamps in the country, with an incredibly diverse aquatic ecosystem of over 140 species of fish.

For these reasons, the honey island swamp is also fairly popular with tourists. In fact, if you are in the area you can even tour the 70,000 acre wildlife sanctuary with the original Honey Island Swamp Tours. And yes, I will have their website linked in the show notes!

But I should warn you before you go, the honey island swamp isn’t just a sanctuary for an array of protected wildlife. And If the stories are true, something a bit more beastly has found refuge in these murky waters.

But you already knew that, didn’t you..? I mean, why would I bringing up such a serene place, if there wasn’t at least some mystery laced into its past?

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It all started on a clear day in 1963, when retired air traffic controller, Harlan Ford was flying a small twin engine plane over the marshland. You see, Ford was an avid hunter, and he had spent the better half of that day scouting for potential hunting campsites.

From his vantage point above, he spotted a nearly perfect location. Although it did have one flaw—the spot was so deeply nestled into the honey island swamp that it would be no easy feat to access. It fact, the only work around he could think of was to ride in as far into the swamp as he could by boat then carry on the rest of the way by foot. And while it wasn’t exactly convenient, Ford was up for the challenge.

So, a few days later, ford and one of his hunting buddies, Billy D. Mills, set out on the journey, with the hopes of finding the perfect hunting location. But little did they know, they were about to make a discovery that paranormal enthusiasts would be hunting down for years to come.

Now as I mentioned, this potential camp spot was located in one of the more remote areas of the swamp—meaning that their trek was lightly traffic by other outdoorsmen at best. This would prove to be especially true on the second half of their journey.

It was as at this half way point, the marshland became too dense to safely maneuver their boat, so Ford and Mills opted to dock the craft and hike the remainder of their trek, with their supplies on their backs.

But in the end, they only made it a short distance from their boat before they saw it. Just a ways ahead, they saw a large animal hunched over on all fours, feeding on what appeared to be the carcass of a wild boar.

Now, before we go any further, I feel a need to reiterate that these men were experienced hunters. And from what I gathered, at least, neither Ford nor mills had never encountered such an animal in all of their years trekking through the marshlands of honey island swamp. And to say the least, the animals close proximity put them at disease.

So, perhaps unsurprisingly, they reacted the way any other experienced hunter would. Slowly they pulled their out the guns and pointed them down range at the beast. And just as they were about to pull the trigger, the animal looked up at them, with understanding units eyes. Then it stood up on its hind legs and broke off in a dead sprint—leaving Ford and Mills standing dumbfounded in its wake.

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In the weeks that followed their encounter, Harlan Ford documented his experience in letter, where he described the beast in great detail. He stated that it stood at over seven feet tall with mangey grayish hair, webbed feet, and yellow eyes. And worse even, was the stench that followed—which could only be likened to putrified garbage.

In the end, it was these grimy details outlined in fords letter that became the first written record of the honey island swamp monster. However, this was likely not the first encounter with this particular cryptid. In fact, there is a beast known in Cajun folklore that matches this filthy description almost to a T.

The letiche, as it known in folklore, is said to be a humanoid creature that was raised in the bayou of Louisiana by nothing other than an alligator. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the origins of this “monster” varies depending on the source.

In some variations, the beast is thought to be the offspring of an alligator and a chimpanzee that escaped from a circus train, which had crashed into the nearby pearl river. Or so they say; however, I was unable to find a record of such a crash.

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Another variation claims that the letiche are the product of unbaptized infants who had been banished to spend entity amongst these predators dwelling in the bayou.

Now however unlikely that may be, I think all agree that this claim is… unsettling. Which is probably why rumors of these undead beings have been swirling around the pelican state for decades, even prior to Fords encounter in 63.

Today, the creature is known by several names depending on who you ask. Along with the aforementioned honey island swamp monster, it is also commonly referred to as Louisiana’s Bigfoot, and my own personal favorite, the Bayou Beast.

But regardless of what you may prefer to call it, one thing remains true: the honey island swamp monster, if it does exist, has been evading discovery for 60 years. Leaving paranormal investigators and cryptozoologists little more than unsubstantiated stories from locals and if I am being honest unreliable evidence at best.

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Now before we dive any further down this rabbit hole, I should make one thing very clear to you all. By now you should know that I am a skeptical believer in all things paranormal and ufology. But on the flip side of this coin, I am a hopeful skeptic when it comes to crypto zoology.

In fact I don’t believe I have ever come across cryptid whose story was compelling enough to sway my opinion. And this fact remains for todays topic. But be that as it may, I will do my best to remain objective and I encourage you to do the same. We have a lot of evidence to unpack throughout the remainder of this episode and it’s only fair that we review it with an open mind.

So let’s continue with the years following Ford’s chance encounter with the bayou beast. Apparently, Ford had grown somewhat determined to once again come face to face with the creature. So much so that he spent a sizable portion of the next decade hunting for it. And this time, he would be ready to collect more concrete proof of its existence.

As the years passed, Ford must have visited the honey island swamp upwards of 100 times in search for the creature. And for what it’s worth, his efforts weren’t entirely in vain. In fact, he often documented his excursions on film and collected a decent bit of evidence in process.

On one particular occasion, for instance, Ford made the trip out to the general area where he had first encountered the monster. And he was walking along the very same trail when he stumbled onto a rather strange scene.

From what ford was able to tell, the discovery seemed to be the aftermath of a fight for survival. And by that I mean, he came across a trail of blood leading from the footpath to a nearby watering hole. He followed the spatter through the brush and before long came across the body of a boar.

And upon further investigation, it became apparent that this was no mere fight between a predator and its prey. Because by the looks of it, the animal had been mutilated. In fact, it even had its throat ripped completely out.

Straight away, Ford began surveying the scene for evidence of what may have attacked the boar. And in doing so, he made the discovery of his crypto-zoological career. Well up until that point, at least.

Immediately next to the boar’s carcass, sat several large animal tracks, pressed into the mud. Upon further investigation, it was clear that the tracks were made by a large animal, that had webbed feet. And by the looks of it, whatever made these tracks had three toes coming to a taloned point on each foot.

Now keep in mind, ford was an avid hunter and experienced outdoorsman. Not to mention, he had spent countless hours in honey island swamp and never had he once come across tracks such as this.

But even still, Ford was aware that he was no expert on the subject. And it was entirely possible that these tracks were made by an ordinary swamp dwelling animal. So, he opted to make a plaster cast of the footprints with intentions of getting a more expert opinion.

In case you were curious, I will of course have a photo of the cast posted to this episode’s show notes at hauntscast.com and I do encourage you to go check it out. Because it really is quite the interesting piece of evidence—especially considering that it is thought to be authentic. At least to some degree.

You see, after his discovery that day, ford took the cast to the local game warden, Alvin Frierson, along with the LSU College of Agriculture. But neither were able to identify the tracks.

All they could say for sure was that the tracks carried an odd mix of animalistic and human-like qualities. There was of course the indication of webbed feet that had three toes and talons. However, there was also evidence of an arch and heel—comparable to that of a human.

In other words, neither frierson or the tenured professors of the LSU agricultural college could determine what kind of an animal could have made these tracks. Leading some to believe that they were made by none other than the bayou beast itself.

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During the years of his retirement, Harlan Ford dedicated a great deal of his time and effort into proving the existence of the honey island swamp monster. And after he passed away in 1980, this hobby and beloved pet project, turned into Ford’s legacy. One that is actually carried on by none other than his very granddaughter.

Dana Holyfield has spent the majority of her life, researching the honey island swamp monster—collecting evidence of its supposed existence along the way. Throughout the course of her career as a swamp monsterologist (as she endearingly calls herself), she has written a handful of books on the subject including the childrens book The Very Hairy Scary Honey Island Swamp Monster and the Honey Island Swamp Monster Documentations—both of which I will have link in the show notes.

The latter of these publications, outlines the story of the honey island swamp monster and presents even more of Ford’s evidence—the most notable of which being an apparent photograph of the creature itself.

According to Holyfield in her book, her grandfather had been on one of his many excursions when he came across a bipedal humanoid creature tromping through the murky waters of the honey island swamp.

From the safety of his tree blind, Ford pulled out his 8mm camera and began filming. And in doing so, he finally captured the proof of the honey island swamp monster that he had spent more than a decade searching for.

Or so it would seem, but in the end Harlan Ford never shared this proof with the world. He never even told a sole of the encounter for that matter. Instead, the reel sat sitting in the attic of the house that he owned with his wife, Yvonne, who finally unearthed the footage years after her husband’s death.

According to Holyfields own admission, Yvonne had been looking through a box her late husband’s old home videos—or swamp videos I guess I should say. Each reel had a makeshift label made out of painters tape that identified the contents of the footage. The majority of the labels included more mundane identifiers such as “turkey” or “deer.” But one label stood out among the rest.

I can only imagine that Yvonne sat there stunned for a while—simply looking down at the words written in her husband’s handwriting. “Honey Island Swamp Monster” the label read… maybe it was real after all.

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In the days that followed, Yvonne took the box to her granddaughter who eventually reviewed the clip labeled with this moniker. And you can imagine her surprise when she saw the illusive creature on screen at last.

Needless to say, it was long before Dana shared her grandfather’s work with the world. In fact, the video even inspired her to film a documentary about the beast. And as a fun twist, the footage was eventually used in a music video for the aptly named song “Honey Island Monster.”

Once again, video will be include in the show notes for this episode. And if you feel so inclined to check it out, be sure to pay close attention at time stamp 1:20. You may just be surprised with what you see.

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While Harlan Ford and his granddaughter, Dana, are considered as the leading experts when it comes to the Honey Island Swamp Monster, it should be noted that a handful of other monster hunters as well as unsuspecting locals have also claimed their own encounters with the illusive beast. So before we end today’s episode, I will leave you with one final story.

Allow me to take you back to the year 1981, just one year after Harlan Ford’s untimely passing, when a man known only by the name Hubert was out in the swamp hunting for deer.

Hubert had been sitting for some time in his tree stand when he heard the sounds of heavy foot steps approaching from behind him. He sat there, atop the tall oak tree for what felt like an eternity—apparently too petrified to even move, let alone flee from the approaching behemoth. Not that he would have been able to out run it. Because within a matter of seconds the beast walked directly under his stand.

He later described the creature as being tall in an inhuman sense. Coming in at about eight feet in height by Hubert’s best estimate. And not unlike the honey island swamp monster, the creature he had encountered was bipedal and covered in hair from head to toe.

Now luckily for Hubert, the encounter ended just as quickly as it began. In fact, only after a few moments of inspecting the area the beast simply walked off even further into the marshlands. But this is not to say that Hubert was unaffected by the experience.

According to Jerry Breaux, a close friend of Hubert who has recounted the story in his behalf, poor Hubert was so affected by the event that he can’t even relay the experience without displaying physical symptoms of anxiety—right down to the heavy breathing and shaking that are indicative of post traumatic stress.

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Now with the sensational claims surrounding the honey island swamp, and the beast that supposedly dwells within it, it comes at no surprise that topic has been scrutinized over the years. And for good reason… I mean it really is hard to believe that a creature of its size and pungent aroma would remain hidden for decades in such a high tourist area. But still, even I can admit that stories like Hubert’s are pretty compelling—especially considering his anxiety surrounding the topic.

So as a parting word, I encourage you to consider this: for years, the legend of the honey island swamp monster has permeated through the framework of southeastern Louisiana—not unlike the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico after a hurricane. And with more and more encounters being reported each year, maybe the bayou beast came in with the rain.

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Credits