| Names the Creature is known by in the Southeastern United States. |
THE "WOOKIE" Of LOUISIANA
The Honey Island Swamp Monster has become one of the most well-known swamp stories because of the real or
imagined presence of a creature similar to what others call Bigfoot. Its also called "The Thing" by area fishermen..
Paul Wagner simply calls it a "Wookie". Wagner says' "I have an open mind about it. I don't say it does or it doesn't
exists. But there is certainly a remote and impenetrable area in this swamp, so if a creature exists, this is the place
for it". He talked to a commercial fisherman who claims to have seen a "Wookie first hand. "He says it was about 7
feet tall and weighed 300 or 350 pounds, with long orange-brown hair and big wide set eyes. Sounds like an
Orangutan".added Wagner. It is reported that when the creature saw the fisherman, he gave a loud shriek and
disappeared into the underbrush. To the Bigfoot follower,this sounds all to familiar.
Although mystery abounds at Honey Island Swamp, those touring the swamp are more entranced by its natural
beauty, and the sights and sounds of wildlife in this pristine area. Dr. Wagner's now keenly senses pick up
evidence of wildlife along the way. He points to the dome of a beaver lodge and then identifies the silhouette of a
bird in the distance as a "Water Turkey" distinguished by its turkey like tail feathers. What looks like a floating stick
near a cluster of cypress knees is really a diamondback water snake. " Don't worry," Wagner assures us."Its
patterned like the diamondback rattler,but the water snake isn't poisonous."
Wagner adds," It can get kind of spooky,though,at night. Sometimes you don't know what your hearing." Although
the swamp abounds with bird calls of great blue herons,white ibis,snowy egrets,and others: maybe some of those
mysterious sounds are from a Wookie.
A rose is a rose by any other name is probably just another Bigfoot species with a separate legend attached. "It
could be," He admits. "Actually,I was fishing near a canebrake one night and heard some footsteps. Whatever it
was,it sounded big. I turned to see the cane spreading apart, so I got out of there. Maybe it was a Wookie, but I
sure didn't hang around to find out."
Napal has it Yeti, Louisiana has its Thing or Wookie, California has its back-country Zoobies,(Florida has its
"Skunk Ape") Northern California has Bigfoot and the Pacific Northwest has their Sasquatch. There is something to
this phenomenon or the world has gone stark raving mad....perhaps both...
imagined presence of a creature similar to what others call Bigfoot. Its also called "The Thing" by area fishermen..
Paul Wagner simply calls it a "Wookie". Wagner says' "I have an open mind about it. I don't say it does or it doesn't
exists. But there is certainly a remote and impenetrable area in this swamp, so if a creature exists, this is the place
for it". He talked to a commercial fisherman who claims to have seen a "Wookie first hand. "He says it was about 7
feet tall and weighed 300 or 350 pounds, with long orange-brown hair and big wide set eyes. Sounds like an
Orangutan".added Wagner. It is reported that when the creature saw the fisherman, he gave a loud shriek and
disappeared into the underbrush. To the Bigfoot follower,this sounds all to familiar.
Although mystery abounds at Honey Island Swamp, those touring the swamp are more entranced by its natural
beauty, and the sights and sounds of wildlife in this pristine area. Dr. Wagner's now keenly senses pick up
evidence of wildlife along the way. He points to the dome of a beaver lodge and then identifies the silhouette of a
bird in the distance as a "Water Turkey" distinguished by its turkey like tail feathers. What looks like a floating stick
near a cluster of cypress knees is really a diamondback water snake. " Don't worry," Wagner assures us."Its
patterned like the diamondback rattler,but the water snake isn't poisonous."
Wagner adds," It can get kind of spooky,though,at night. Sometimes you don't know what your hearing." Although
the swamp abounds with bird calls of great blue herons,white ibis,snowy egrets,and others: maybe some of those
mysterious sounds are from a Wookie.
A rose is a rose by any other name is probably just another Bigfoot species with a separate legend attached. "It
could be," He admits. "Actually,I was fishing near a canebrake one night and heard some footsteps. Whatever it
was,it sounded big. I turned to see the cane spreading apart, so I got out of there. Maybe it was a Wookie, but I
sure didn't hang around to find out."
Napal has it Yeti, Louisiana has its Thing or Wookie, California has its back-country Zoobies,(Florida has its
"Skunk Ape") Northern California has Bigfoot and the Pacific Northwest has their Sasquatch. There is something to
this phenomenon or the world has gone stark raving mad....perhaps both...
Rosebill Ibis
Sand Hill Cranes
White Ibis
Snowy White Egrets
Great Blue Heron
along the waters of Honey Island Swamp
Gator reaching up for food.
One of the wildest and most pristine river swamps in
America.With the swamp tales of pirates and Wookie
you might be a little nervous at first but after your first
boat ride you'll want to go back again and again on the
local boat tours.Like Florida you'll be overcome with its
primitive beauty of the Cypress trees rising from the
water and the sweet smell of the wild azaleas in the air.
It is the least altered river swamps in the country pretty
much in original condition. Its 250 square miles and
70,000 acres which is permanetly protected wildlife
area. The Nature Conservancy's First Louisiana Nature
Preserve.
Named because of Honey bees seen on a nearby
island. A tract of bottomland timber lying betweenEast
Pearl and West Pearl Rivers, Honey Island is betwee
three and seven miles wide and 15 to 20 miles long.
America.With the swamp tales of pirates and Wookie
you might be a little nervous at first but after your first
boat ride you'll want to go back again and again on the
local boat tours.Like Florida you'll be overcome with its
primitive beauty of the Cypress trees rising from the
water and the sweet smell of the wild azaleas in the air.
It is the least altered river swamps in the country pretty
much in original condition. Its 250 square miles and
70,000 acres which is permanetly protected wildlife
area. The Nature Conservancy's First Louisiana Nature
Preserve.
Named because of Honey bees seen on a nearby
island. A tract of bottomland timber lying betweenEast
Pearl and West Pearl Rivers, Honey Island is betwee
three and seven miles wide and 15 to 20 miles long.
The monster is claimed to stand over 7 feet tall with a
coat that covers its body, of thick matted gray or
brown hair. It has yellow eyes that seem reptilian and
the smell has been called the stench of death. This
primitive creature has long been blamed for the
deaths of livestock and the mysterious
disappearances of children in adjacent areas.
Although stories of the Honey Island Monster has
been circulating for close to 100 years, the first
alleged evidence was reported in 1974 by two
Louisiana hunters, Harlan Ford and Ray Mills. The
two claimed to have found a four-toed footprint left by
the beast next to the slaughtered carcass of a wild
boar. After discovering the footprint, Ford returned to
the swamp with video camera in hand. His grainy film
captures a shadowy figure that appears to be a hairy
beast walking upright, weaving quickly in and out of
trees in the dense woods.
coat that covers its body, of thick matted gray or
brown hair. It has yellow eyes that seem reptilian and
the smell has been called the stench of death. This
primitive creature has long been blamed for the
deaths of livestock and the mysterious
disappearances of children in adjacent areas.
Although stories of the Honey Island Monster has
been circulating for close to 100 years, the first
alleged evidence was reported in 1974 by two
Louisiana hunters, Harlan Ford and Ray Mills. The
two claimed to have found a four-toed footprint left by
the beast next to the slaughtered carcass of a wild
boar. After discovering the footprint, Ford returned to
the swamp with video camera in hand. His grainy film
captures a shadowy figure that appears to be a hairy
beast walking upright, weaving quickly in and out of
trees in the dense woods.