FRONTIERS OF ZOOLOGY Dale A. Drinnon has been a researcher in the field of Cryptozoology for the past 30+ years and has corresponded with Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson. He has a degree in Anthropology from Indiana University and is a freelance artist and writer. Motto: "I would rather be right and entirely alone than wrong in the company with all the rest of the world"--Ambroise Pare', "the father of modern surgery", in his refutation of fake unicorn horns.
Some Comparisons of the Yeti "Mittenfoot" track cast of Cronin as provided by Dr. Meldrum
with Asian apes (Orangutan) and some purported "Unknown" ape tracks:
First the cast compared to the foot of an adult male orangutan,
and then the cast "Trimmed" to show only the contact (footprint) area
The Yeti track is more developed but the big toe does seem to come off about the same
place as it does in the orangutan. The (uncurled) toes are much shorter and both adaptations
are for a ground living (terrestrial) species as opposed to a tree-climbing one.
Above, Orang Pendek and a young orangutan foot (extended)
and below the Yeti track cast compared to the Orang Pendek track cast
Please remember that Heuvelmans referred to the commoner reddish form of Yeti as
"The Little Yeti (Le Petit Yeti), later saying it was likely only another form of orangutan,
and that Ivan T. Sanderson said this one was the same as the Orang Pendek
The fact that orangutan feet can be very variable even in the same individual at different ages makes it more difficult to say whether or not the Yetis and Orangutans or Orang Pendeks are actually completely different species. It also makes sorting out "Yeti" tracks more difficult.
Gordon Mullet's Eastern Bigfoot cast
(Evidentally the same as the Skunk ape of Florida and Swamp ape of Texas/Louisiana)
Shows resemblance to both Yeti and Orang Pendek-Broader and heavier like the Yeti but with the reduced big toe like the Orang Pendek and Orangutan.
Gordon Mullet Writes:
Hello, Here is a ORANGATANS HAND,, looks like the one I photographed on the EASTERN BIGFOOT, Coshocton, county ,Ohio,, See: Cover MY page f/b,See: profile
Above, photograph by Glen Mullet, and below the closeup
Impression of Eastern Bigfoot by Gordon Mullet
Gordon Mullet and a track cast, from Dr Meldrum's Facebook page
Hoax footprint of the Honey Island Swamp Monster. From M K Davis' Facebook wall, and Davis writes: This person is Ricky Holiness. He is the discoverer of the shoe out in the swamp.
He had to look for quite a while in his home for the shoe, but eventually found it.
This is really a great story and Jay Michael tells it eloquently in his documentary.
This same type of hoax footprint (Alligator's foot fastened to the bottom of a shoe) has been repeated elsewhere and some of the Skunk Ape, Swamp Monster or Eastern Bigfoot tracks
(including "3-Toed tracks") come from such a source.
The footprint does unfortunately have some similarities to the more legitimate, more apelike tracks
Some of the Ape tracks feature a long narrow foot and heel and resemble this "Dogman" footprint (from Scott Campbell on Facebook) and are probably actually from dog footprints where the whole foot is printed and not just the paw pads, and composite tracks from more than one footprint from the dog, superimposed.
In the meantime, Tyler and I have been discussing the Honey Island Swamp Monster and I have updated that entry, including the information about how the tracks were faked:
This is an illustration of the Honey Island Swamp Monster said to be taken from a newspaper article. I only just turned it up on a photo search I was doing.I am currently tracking down whatever information might go with it. I am adding it here because the illustration is Kappa-like and conforms very well to Tyler Stone's interpretation of the Swamp Monster in question. Best Wishes, Dale D.
LATER ADDITION: Here is a version as posted on Haunted America Tours. It would seem all the illustrations are made after 2000. You will notice the illustration was printed in lateral compression: the one I ran had the lateral compression effect removed:
SWAMP MONSTER DESCRIPTION
Long to short hair on the head. Shorter hair all over the body. At times head
hair forming bangs some what over the eyes. Hair color is dingy gray. 5- 8 feet
tall and weight 300 or 350 pounds, with long, orange-brown gray or black hair
and big, wide-set orange amber eyes.
These animals are sometimes described as having a "mane" of hair, large broad
shouldered. The face is said to be rather flat. The most prominent feature
described by Ford and others, is the size and color of the eyes. They appear to
be disproportionately large, and of an amber color.
Mr. Ford stated that this gave the animal a "sinister" look.
Honey Island swamp is unique because it's one of the least-altered river
swamps in the country. It's pretty much in its original condition, almost a
pristine wilderness. Take a personalized narrated nature tour into the
250-square-mile Honey Island Swamp. Nearly 70,000 acres of it is a
permanently-protected wildlife area--the Nature Conservancy's First Louisiana
Nature Preserve. People from all over the world now explore this wildlife
sanctuary with him.
Honey Island earned its name because of the honeybees once seen on a nearby
island. A tract of bottomland timber lying between the East Pearl and West Pearl
rivers, Honey Island is between three and seven miles wide and 15 to 20 miles
long. It is located 50 minutes from New Orleans in Southeast Louisiana.
Honey Island has become one of the most well-known swamps because of the real
or imagined presence of a creature similar to what others have called Big
Foot.
The tracks , left by the animal, appear to be somewhat similar to an
Alligator's rear foot. Upon close examination, however, it becomes clear, that
this is something different.
In 1974, zoologists from Louisiana State University (LSU) met with Harlan
Ford to study the plaster casts of the creature's four-toed footprints.
Crypotozoologist from Washington also arrived in Louisiana to inspect the
unusual casts. Harlan said, "That thing stood eye level with me. The thing that
startled me the most, we're it's large amber eyes." Harlan was later interviewed
in a documentary called "In Search Of" which still airs periodically on The
Discovery Channel and other television networks. Harlan's own personal sighting
has been documented in a book, "Monsters of North America"
This is a real plaster cast of the impression of the footprint of
the Honey Island Swamp Monster. This cast was donated to the Abita Mystery House
by Dana Holyfield, grand-daughter of Harlan E. Ford, the hunter who found and
cast the tracks. He was the first man to report a sighting of the creature and
he was also the first and only man to my knowledge who poured plaster paris
casts of it's tracks found deep in the swamp. The Honey Island Swamp is about 25
miles East of the Abita Mystery House. There are several swamp tours of the
area.
There are four toes visible. There are three heavily clawed toes , with
prominent knuckles , underneath the foot. Then... there is the bizarre thumb
like small toe . About an inch and a half on the cast that I have. These toes
show clearly , that this animal can grasp with the toes. The three large toes ,
are long and slender , with tendons visible in the prints. The claws are turned
down , and backwards to grip the loose soil , sand , and mud. This is
reminiscent of a cat like trait. The skin appears to be thin on the bottom of
the foot , with tendons showing. In the hostile environment of the island , thin
skin under the foot would indicate that it didn't spend a lot of time on the
ground.
IN SEARCH OF ST. TAMMANY, PARISH BIGFOOT
In 1978 the Alan Lamdsburg Company, producers of the popular TV program,
IN SEARCH OF did a segment on the Honey island Swamp Monster. This catapulted
the monster into International fame. Since then there have been many reports and
the program has become a reference for information on the creature.
Dana Holyfield, grand-daughter of Harlan Ford, has made a documentary film
about the Honey Island Swamp Monster. The documentary also includes footage of a
swamp trek that Dana took into an area where there had been sightings of the
creature. She found tracks, and shot video of the tracks. Also included in the
documentary is footage shot by Harlan Ford years ago in the swamp. There are a
few seconds of footage of a bipedal, hairy being that is walking behind some
trees.
This book documents sightings of a mysterious man-like creature that
roams the dense foliage of the Louisiana Honey Island Swamp, where few men have
ever ventured. Evidence found (as seen on Discovery Channel's In Search Of) was
studied by reputable crypto zoologists who claimed that is was not a hoax.
About the Author
Dana Holyfield grew up in Slidell, Louisiana. She wrote
this book because it was her grandfather, Harlan Ford, who first reported the
sighting of the legendary Swamp Monster after he poured plaster paris tracks.
She has authored many books such as Swamp Cooking With The River People, More
Swamp Cooking, New Orleans Mardi Gras Recipes, Cajun Sexy Cooking, Swamp Tour A
Way Of Life On The Bayou, Mermaid Bayou Legend Of The Fresh Water Lady Fish,
Sexy & Lean Bayou Cuisine.
These tracks and casts were circulated in the mid-1970s and popularised on the TV show In Search Of...: the "Creature" sightings were supposed to have been made in 1963, more than a decade earlier. So no direct connection-EXCEPT that the witness cited for the 1963 sighting was also one of the ones providing the hoaxed tracks. Perhaps the need to produce solid evidence was too great of a temptation. However, when the news came out, ALL OTHER "Swamp Monster" tracks from the Eastern USA immediately came under suspicion (The alligator-foot-boot tracks are very much smaller than the "Frogfoot" ones, however, since "Frogfoot" tracks can be as much as 24 inches long)
And the same artist made the face close-up also shown on a different version of the Haunted America Tours page. In the meantime, Cryptomundo posted advertisements for a reimagining of the Louisiana Swamp Monster as more of a Kappa type creature:
Tyler Stone sent me an update on his Freshwater-monkey theory to account for Kappas and similar Cryptids. I said this was good material and I would run it for him here:
The first thing I want to share is an update to my freshwater monkey theory. After doing some reading, I realized that the Honey Island Swamp monster would be a perfect fit. Here's a description of the 1963 sighting by Harlan Ford and Billy Mills from http://jmichaelms.tripod.com/HIS/. I've highlighted the parts that I think are of special interest.
1.Appearances: A. Long hair on the head. Shorter hair all over the body. Head hair forming bangs somewhat over the eyes. Hair color is dingy gray. B. When Harlan Ford first saw it, it was on all fours, facing away from him. He said that it reminded him of an African lion from the rear. C. When the creature heard the voices of Harlan and his companion, it turned and stood upright on two legs , and made eye contact with the two men. The two men and the creature stood staring at each other as if sizing up the situation. D. The most outstanding thing the two men remember the most, was the size of the creature's eyes. He said they were disproportionally large, compared to the head and they were of an amber color. E. He said that the face looked like something out of a horror movie. It had a sinister look. F. Harlan described it as being about seven feet tall. It's loins were slender and it's chest and shoulders were tremendous. G. Harlan and Billy Mills, on another occasion found a series of three wild boars that were killed by bites to the throat. The first two were a good ways away from water, and had been dead a day or two. The third was lying in the water, with warm blood coming from it's throat and the hog was still kicking. Around the dying hog were the distinctive tracks of the creature. H. According to Perry Ford the creature makes a sound like a screech owl, except with more bass, and much more strength. I. According to Perry Ford, dogs will pick up the scent and run the creature. The creature circled his camp for many hours one night and had squalled for a while. Towards daylight a pack of dogs picked up the scent and made their way to his camp and circled it many times before making their way on out through the woods. M. According to Denny Crawford, a local with some knowledge of the creature, he knew a man who had lived in the swamp pretty deep and the man said that he believed that the animal migrated in and out of the area as it seemed to be more common at certain times of the year and gone at other times. N. Scientists, who examined the tracks, all agreed they were not hoaxes. The webbed toe imprints appeared to be a cross between a Primate and a large alligator... an impossible mixture. The scientists estimated the creature's weight at about four hundred pounds. O. When Harlan and Billy first encountered the creature and it ran, they got the impression that it would go down on all fours again any moment. As it disappeared into the brush they saw it appear to go down on all fours again. P. They, at that time, gave chase into an island or isthmus with only one way in and they could not locate it. They circled the island and could not find tracks going into the water.
Conclusions: This creature seems to possess both primate and feline characteristics. It seems to have chosen the trees as opposed to the water when pursued. It killed by biting the throat, but did not immediately eat its prey. Dogs will pursue this animal.
Comments:
A. The long "mane" with short body hair sounds very similar to that in some male macaques.
B. Macaques often move on all fours in the way described. The description of the creature as being like a lion reinforces the idea of a long "mane" of head hair with short body hair.
C. Macaques are capable of walking on two legs, as proven by this monkey from an Israeli zoo:
D. The description of amber eyes is extremely interesting. Most images I can find show macaques with similarly-colored eyes.
E. The "sinister look" may be a threat on the part of the macaque; many primates use eye-contact as a challenge (gorillas are rather well-known for this).
H. The "sound like a screech owl, except with more bass" basically brings to mind a very low-pitched monkey call:
O: The fact that the creature apparently walked awkwardly on two legs before dropping to all fours brings to mind an animal which CAN walk upright, but is more comfortable on all-fours.
Also, the note in the conclusion about the creature moving through the trees is interesting; if this is indeed what happened, then it sounds like the creature is arboreal, at least to some extent.
My reading of the Honey Island Swamp Monster case is that what we are basically dealing with is a large male macaque-type monkey, which would fit in to the general category of amphibious freshwater monkeys.
Best regards,
Tyler Stone
-I also pointed out to Tyler that I had mentioned independantly that the "Water Sprites" of Europe also corresponded to his description. He said he had noticed I had said that and he thought it was interesting.
