Swamps and Bayous

The word bayou originated from the term bayuk, the Louisiana French word for "small stream" By definition, a bayou is a watercourse, usually the offshoot of a river or lake in a lowland area. It is a sluggish or stagnant creek, frequently flowing through swamp terrain. The term is used mainly when referring to areas in the delta region (the area near the mouth) of the Mississippi River. In comparison, a swamp is low-lying, marshy wetland, and is usually forested and seasonally flooded. In Florida they call them swamps. Alligators and Crocadiles live in both swamps and bayous.