Five Mosgiel teenagers who became inspired after watching an episode of Man vs Wild on television on Sunday, soon found they were no match for the Mt Allan forest.
They decided to try their own version of the wilderness survival programme, but were forced to seek help when they got separated in Wenita's Mt Allan forest, west of Mosgiel.
"I think that programme should come with a `Don't try this at home' warning," Constable Jo Tiszavari, of Mosgiel, said yesterday, after spending most of her morning rounding up the youths.
The teens, males aged 13, 14, 15, 17 and 19, told her that after watching an episode of the programme in the afternoon, they got friends to drop them off at the forest about 6.30pm..
Their intention was to spend the night in the forest with nothing but the clothes they had on - T-shirts, jeans and skate shoes.
"I asked them what they were going to eat and they said they were going to catch a pig.
"But they had nothing to start a fire with, so I don't know what they were going to do there."
One of the teens separated from the group on Sunday night, telling his mates he was going to find a hut.
The others slept under a tree.
The four walked out of the forest about 9am and raised the alarm about their missing friend with a passing truck driver.
Const Tiszavari was called and, with the assistance of a team from Wenita, found the other youth safe and well in a hut later in the morning.
The boys' actions were "just really stupid", she said.
They had wasted the time of police and Wenita staff, and a search and rescue team was placed on standby.
The teens were very lucky considering they had walked a "hell of a long way" and the weather had stayed relatively warm, she said.
"They were wandering around in the dark without torches.
"They could easily have gone off a cliff in the dark."
The youths, who were already well known to Mosgiel police, received a ticking off, she said.
