The fascination with survival television shows continues. So now add to that growing list “Alone.”

In this feature, a bunch of guys are dropped off on Vancouver Island with just a few survival items. Whoever lasts the longest wins $500,000.

These guys get to keep their britches on, unless of course a cougar rips them off. They are allowed to bring a few essentials such as fire starters, tarp, sleeping bag, hatchet, etc. And we have a Georgian from Blairsville on this quest.

On the first night, black bears came into one guy’s camp, and he tapped out the very next day. He was completely freaked out.

“I don’t like being stalked,” he said.

This guy is a cop. And he said he had been in hostile situations many times, but he was never as afraid as he was when the bears showed up.

Supposedly there are no camera crews. They must film their own adventures. So they have no one to talk to, and loneliness becomes a culprit. And no one can slip them a Hershey bar.

This new show adds to a plethora of other survivor shows such as “Naked and Afraid,” “Alaskan Bush People,” “Dual Survivor,” “Dude You’re Screwed,” “Man Versus Wild,” “The Raft” (survival at sea), “Below Zero” (surviving in the Arctic) and others.

Apparently some of these people go out into the wilderness, and it’s a total surprise to them. They’ve never read survival manuals. They’ve never watched Robinson Crusoe. They can’t build a fire with a Bic and kerosene. And apparently they think they will find a root beer spring and a cheese burger tree.

Some of them claim to have survival skills which means they probably camped out in the back yard one night and roasted marshmallows.

Surprisingly, one of the best survivalist I’ve seen on one of these shows was a latter-day hippie who, in real life, lives in the wilderness with just his dog.

He was on an island that was running wild with rats. He trapped rats and cooked them. He was one of those who could actually rationalize that protein is protein, and he embraced basic survival knowledge that you must put mind over matter sometimes. He only lost six pounds over 21 days. He actually seemed to be enjoying it.

“Peace brother!”

I recently read from one sociologist that these survival shows are indicative of a mindset that as a society we are headed toward a meltdown that will require survival skills. I guess he was talking about a fall of governments or maybe something more severe like “Planet of the Apes.”

I don’t buy into that. I think these shows are so prolific because they are relatively cheap to produce, and they make a lot of money. There are no high-priced actors with 50-pound egos and no expensive script writers. And as lame as some of them are, they are more entertaining than watching celebrities cook their favorite dishes, which generally is little more than a meatloaf or a hotdog.

Now routinely we do hear of people getting lost in the wilderness because they wandered off the marked trail. And there are skills that could be learned from some of these shows that could actually save a life.

I have some simple advice that one might embrace if they intend to take such hikes. Carry three canteens of water, six Bic lighters, an old shower curtain for shelter and a knife that would scare the mustache off Jim Bowie. Otherwise, stay home warm and dry and watch this stuff on television.

Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. Emai: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com