Episode 5:
“Maximus Learns to Cache and Find”
“I’m not sure I can teach the Independent Otters about hiding and finding caches of food,” said Finnick the fox.
“Why not?” asked his friend Maximus the mouse.
“I think it’s something about being a fox. Our sense of smell, direction, and Earth’s magnetic field. All of that.”
“You’re a great teacher. Try with me.”
“What?”
“Let’s say I want to hide a cache of food for later,” said Maximus. “How do I do it?”
“Let’s try with this mini cooler with the bass you just caught. “We’ll go farther into the forest and you come back and find it.”
“Great. Where should we hide it?”
“How about we set it by this tree and cover it with some sticks and leaves?”
“Set it by a tree? I thought we would do some burying! You always bury your caches!”
“We’re starting easy,” said Finnick.
“Too easy,” said Maximus.
“Observe the landmarks,” Finnick instructed. “What do you see?”
“The lake, obviously. Lake Turpin is right there. This is too easy,” Maximus strode off into the forest.
“Wait! That’s not enough. Remember to smell!” Finnick called after him. “This is a bad idea,” he mumbled.
Finnick waited for fifteen minutes. Maximus did not come back. Finnick sighed and went after him, following his scent. After a minute, Finnick heard a disturbance.
“Ow! Stop! I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go!”
Coming around a tree, Finnick saw Maximus questioning an ant he had cornered, thumping him over the head with his pointy stick.
“Tell… me…where…it is!”
“Stop, stop!” called Finnick. “That’s not how you find a cache!”
“Why not? I’ll bet he saw it.”
“It’s supposed to be a secret. You can’t just attack other animals until you find one who saw it. Then everyone will know you have a cache nearby.”
“Good teachers give room for differentiation,” said Maximus. “You’ve got your method. I’m using mine.”
“I’m very sorry,” Finnick apologized to the ant. “You can go.”
“He’s going to the cooler right now!” Maximus yelled. “I’ll get you!” he waved his stick in the air and started to chase the ant. Finnick held him back.
“Let’s use directions. It’s morning. Where is the Sun? Which way is east?”
A black-capped chickadee was pecking in the grass nearby. Maximus charged the bird with his stick.
“Oy, bird! Which way is east?”
The bird flew off, whistling in alarm.
“No, I meant if you look at the Sun, that’s how you find east.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Maximus charged east. They came out of the forest. Lake Turpin was in front of them.
“Ok, you found the lake,” Finnick said. “Now smell.”
Maximus breathed in through his nostrils.
“Huckleberry!” He ran to a nearby bush and began stuffing down berries. “We did it! You’re a great teacher.”
“Great teachers need patience,” said Finnick. “I think this helped. I’ll get the cooler.”
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