The creature is described as bipedal, tall, with gray hair and yellow or red eyes, and accompanied by a disgusting smell. Footprints supposedly left by the creature have three webbed toes, according to local myth.
Sightings
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. 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.
Folklore
A legend tells of a train wreck in the area in the early 20th century. According to the legend, a traveling circus was on the train, and from it a group of chimpanzees escaped and interbred with the local alligator population.
The creature was featured in an episode of Lost Tapes, "Swamp Creature."
It was the subject of an episode of In Search of..., "The Swamp Monster."
It was a subject of an episode of , "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," 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.
A blues outfit, The Honey Island Swamp Band, formed in San Francisco post-Katrina after founding members were displaced.
In 2019, an episode of America Unearthed entitled "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.
