Season nine episode four of The History Channel’s Alone catches up with five of the remaining nine survivalists: Igor, Benji, Teimojin, Tom, and Terry. It also includes the second tap out of the season as Igor’s health and lack of nutrition cause him to give up 20 days in. He wasn’t able to finish his log cabin due to his lack of strength combined with backpain and heart issues that kept him from working quickly.
Assorted survival tidbits dished out in “The Beaver” episode airing June 16, 2022 include that beavers can weigh up to 60 pounds and provide 960 calories per pound. Bears can smell animal guts 20 miles away, and leaving the hide on a carcass is a natural form of insulation against contamination. And Whiskey Jacks are birds nicknamed “camp robbers” because they like to steal supplies.
We also learned survivalists are provided a toothbrush but not toothpaste.
Eight contestants remain at the end of episode four.
Benji, Age 46, Bellevue, ID
Day 17: Benji’s up early to track down the beaver he shot the previous evening. Fortunately, he finds the poor creature’s dead body so it didn’t die in vain. He carries the heavy animal back to an area not too close to camp, aware the smell might attract bears.
Benji worries the meat might go bad if the temperature doesn’t cool off more. He gets busy preparing the beaver to be cooked and has decided to set up a steamer. Benji’s going to leave the skin on to protect the meat.
Benji builds an impressive smoker and prepares different parts of the beaver for cooking. He hangs meat on his smoke rack; the meat’s smelling good so far as it’s still relatively fresh. The fat from the beaver feels great on his hands and works as a natural moisturizer.
Later that evening he crisps-up the scrap meat and declares it tastes like roast beef. He thanks the land for this awesome meal.
Benji truly believes he’s capable of going over 100 days and winning.
Day 18: Benji sets up a game camera by the beaver gut pile about half a mile from his camp. He hopes the footage will reveal a bear’s in the area. Benji’s really interested in shooting a bear, certain that would provide enough meat to get him much further down the road into this adventure.
Benji’s proud of how he’s flourishing up to this point. The only thing that would be better than beaver is bagging a bear.
Day 19: A bear visits the guts pile and is captured on the game camera!
Teimojin, Age 31, Montreal, CAN
Day 17: Teimojin continues to work on his shelter and finishes up his bed that’s about a foot off the ground. He hasn’t had any protein in two weeks and has lost 23 pounds. He’s going to get busy setting up snares and doing more foraging.
His camp’s in an area with lots of squirrels (he calls Labrador a “squirrel palace”) and he’s found Balsam Fir green cones that appear to have been chewed by small animals. Teimojin’s determined his best option is to make spring pull snares that should work well in capturing squirrels.
If he can get some meat, it’ll go a long way toward confirming he can survive a good period of time in this wilderness.
Day 18: His meal of bunchberries isn’t very satisfying so thankfully the squirrels have become more active. He gathers firewood while hoping to spot a squirrel and admits to feeling like he’s hitting a wall. Everything takes a little more energy than normal and he’s aware getting pulled for medical reasons is a possibility.
He pauses his gathering when he hears a grouse fluttering in the trees. His first shot is a kill, but the bird gets stuck in a tree while dying. He’s able to knock it down and celebrates his first kill.
Teimojin prepares the bird for cooking and roasts the meat. A short while later he has his first meal with protein. He has renewed hope now that he knows what a grouse sounds like.
He spent time in East Africa with different Indigenous communities and found them to be incredibly happy and resilient, despite living in rough climates. They taught him important life lessons including to be resilient in the face of hardship.
Terry, Age 31, Homer, AK
Day 18: Terry has a confession to make – he hasn’t pooped in 12 days. He thinks his body’s been burning everything he takes in and there isn’t any leftover waste to get rid of. Terry’s worried constipation may wind up taking him out. He needs to find big game or he won’t last.
It’s still dark when he sneaks down to the river to search for a beaver. He spots one but decides not to take a shot because he can’t be certain it would be an instantly lethal shot. Terry doesn’t want the beaver to wind up somewhere he can’t reach; he’s concerned about being respectful to the beaver and not killing it without being able to retrieve it.
Terry says the mark of a true hunter is restraint. “You just gotta do things in the right way. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not,” says Terry.
Day 19: 13 days and Terry’s still backed up. He uses sap resin to help with his fire and knows if he gets a beaver, he could be there for the long haul. Not being able to poop is taking a toll on his body and he becomes dizzy.
Hours later he’s experiencing muscle spasms and leg cramps. Plus, his stomach hurts.
We hear him groan but, fortunately, are spared the actual proof that he’s finally been able to poop. He feels renewed and his body’s back to feeling surprisingly good.
Day 21: Terry wakes before the sunrise to try and get a beaver. He’s patient and watches one for a while before deciding it’s worth taking a shot. His first arrow is all it takes to kill the beaver and then it’s just a matter of waiting to see where the beaver’s body comes close to shore.
Unfortunately, the beaver’s not getting any closer and Terry’s forced to strip down and retrieve the body from the water, even though it’s icy. He realizes there’s a risk of hypothermia but he doesn’t have any choice.
It’s 39 degrees when Terry exits the water with the beaver. It’s a massive animal and well worth the dive into freezing water. It took him eight days of going down to the river in the early morning hours and today his patience finally paid off.
Terry guesses the beaver weighs 30-ish pounds and is one of his favorite wild game meats.
Igor, Age 39, Bountiful, UT
Day 18: Igor’s back is sore and his energy level is low. His log cabin is much more difficult than he anticipated, especially given that he’s not taking in many calories. He’s lost 25 pounds over these 18 days.
Igor heads to the river to try his hand at fly fishing. He’s not great at it and recognizes it’s a deficit in his skill set. He spots seals in the river and that means there are fish. They also mean Igor’s got competition for food. (Regulations prohibit anyone from hunting a harbor seal.)
Igor returns to camp with a single small mussel. Even though it’s tiny he’s excited about being able to cook something. He boils it with seaweed as he reveals he believes diversity representation in the survival environment is important. His first experience seeing a positive portrayal of someone who looks like him on TV was when he was 10 or 12. He watched Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia and that made him believe he could be a hero. His mustache is an homage to Sharif.
He eats his mussel which contains about 14 calories and deems it “amazing.”
Day 19: Igor makes toothpaste out of charcoal from his fire. After that, he slowly begins working on his log cabin again. He still needs lots of logs and is moving at a snail’s pace. He regrets not just doing a simple double A-frame and jokes that what he really needs is a “phone a friend” option.
Igor doesn’t consider himself in competition with the other Alone contestants. It’s more like he’s competing against himself. Igor realizes that thinking about going home hurts his morale so instead he concentrates on building his shelter.
Igor’s back is getting worse each day and he’s worried about his heart. It’s been beating irregularly, and he assumes it’s struggling to keep him going without much food. If he could only catch a fish or a hare, it would really help. He’s existing on a seaweed diet.
Day 20: He didn’t sleep well and admits he’s at the limit of what his body can take. Stretching doesn’t really help his back, his heart continues to bother him, and he’s forced to tap out before he does real harm to his body.
He’s disappointed he didn’t last three weeks but can’t risk a permanent injury to his back or damage to his heart.
Tom, Age 35, Earlysville, VA
Day 18: Tom’s completed just one wall of his permanent structure after all this time. He heads off to fish but a Whiskey Jack gets his attention first and he shoots it dead. It’s a pretty bird and Tom didn’t want to shoot him, but he needs food.
Tom’s going to use feathers from the bird as flies as a way of honoring the bird’s sacrifice. He’s not anticipating the bird will taste delicious since it’s in the crow family. Tom hopes he can combine it with fish in a stew to help it taste better.
He pulls in a decent-size brook trout from his honey hole, thankful the area’s still paying off.
Tom cooks his fish and prepares it on a plate made of small branches, a meal he believes rivals first-class restaurants in New York.
- Alone Season 9 Episode 1 “Drop Shock” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 2 “Consequences” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 3 “Law of the Land” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 5 “The Land Giveth” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 6 “The Weasel” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 7 “The Birds” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 8 “Gut Feeling” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 9 “The Ice Up” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 10 “Winter’s Grasp” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 11 “Fight, Flight or Freeze” Recap
