MOULRIE, Ga. — 

The television reality show “Swamp People” is “back by popular demand.”

I’m somewhat skeptical about that “back by popular demand” thing. How many cards, letters and emails would it take to be popular demand? I get the feeling that television producers said, “We don’t have anything to fill that slot, so just bring back what we had last season and make the viewing public think it was their decision.” 

Now “Swamp People” is about folks in Louisiana who hunt alligators. Well, maybe “hunt” is a misnomer. They catch them on baited hooks and then shoot them. Maybe “harvest” is a better word.

And these “reality” shows must have a negative twist to keep the viewers’ attention. Someone gets a hook stuck in his hand. An outboard motor konks out many miles into the swamp. Someone steals gators off someone else’s hook and breeds a feud. Bad weather sets in which means they can’t work their lines and make payments on their new big screen TV. So much anguish!

So this new season starts off with a negative twist right up front. Commercial alligator farms are producing so many hides they flood the market. The traditional way of “harvesting” these gators takes a big hit. Now we have anguish on steroids. 

I noted in an earlier column that I like to hear Cajuns talk. That’s about the only reason I spend any time at all with this show.

“Chute’em Liz! Chute’em again!

But I don’t get excited about watching these people shoot alligators. From that vantage point, if you’ve seen one show then you’ve seen them all.  And even though I’ve enjoyed eating some gator tail, I don’t go out of my way for that fare. As well, I don’t wear alligator shoes. So the rise and fall of the alligator market means little to me, except that I hate to see people lose their livlihood if it’s an honest one.

I’ve never hunted alligators. It’s not part of my outdoor heritage. I have hunted rattlesnakes, which I feel is a much safer endeavor than trying to wrestle a 10-foot gator to the top of the water so that I can shoot it.

Yes, a rattlesnake can be deadly.  But it can’t bite your arm off and eat you for lunch. Also, one is on dry land when he hunts rattlesnakes — not doing a balancing act on water.

But let me be clear. When I say I hunted rattlesnakes — and caught some — I did not do it long. After four or five successful hunting trips when I was a youngster, I realized that I was not having fun, nor was I making any serious money. Further, hunting rattlesnakes gave me the heebeejeebies. Another way to put it is that I would not have made a good reality show. 

Now back to the gator hunters. I doubt they will abandon the skills handed down by their ancestors and start investing in commercial alligator farms. The way they do it is a combination of fun and livlihood. Feeding a truck load of dead chickens to a pond filled with gators would not honor their fathers and grandfathers.

To some degree, I can associate with those feelings. My grandpa would turn over in his grave if he knew I had been shooting tame quail just a few hours after they were taken out of a pen and dumped in a briar thicket.

It will be interesting to see how the Cajuns respond to this new negative. Do they know other trades to fall back on? Will the government subsidize their threatened vocation? Will Liz “chute” a hole in the bottom of the boat? 

Stay tuned.

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)