CARIBOU, Maine — Teague Park first graders were given a hands-on crash course about some of the animals that can be found in their backyards at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center on Tuesday.
Jesse Cote, Maine guide and owner of Back Woods Guide Service, led the lesson and began by explaining how students can identify animals by sight, sound, and even smell.
Cote had a small assortment of items on a table related to the lesson, and asked the students how they could determine whether a duck is male or female.
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- Jesse Cote, a Maine guide, teaches Teague Park first graders about mallards during an April 30 event at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center. (Chris Bouchard)
One student said they went to a lake and their parents told them that the “boy duck is more colorful than the girl duck.”
Cote said this was correct, adding that the male ducks are colorful to attract the attention of predators away from the female duck taking care of her ducklings.
“So when that eagle or fox comes in,” he said, “the colorful duck is going to run to get away from the nest so mom is safe. Then he has to fend for himself.”
Cote played a variety of animal sounds via remote controlled speaker in the room.
He also explained how animals use smells to attract one another. A moose, for example, has a long nose so it can smell up to a mile away.
To further demonstrate this, he let the students smell a small vial of moose “perfume,” with the students simultaneously laughing and showing their disgust.
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- Maine Guide Jesse Cote lets Teague Park first graders smell moose urine, or “perfume,” during an April 30 event at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center. (Chris Bouchard)
“You know that a moose can’t go to the perfume store,” Cote said while holding the bottle. “They haunch their legs and pee all over themselves. This is pee.”
Students reacted wildly to the revelation, after which Cote continued.
“That’s how animals communicate,” he said. “They see and hear each other, and they smell horrible. That’s pretty much it. They don’t pick up the phone and text each other.”
The guide then moved a dividing wall at the rec center to reveal another room full of stuffed animals from around the area, including a bear rug, a moose, a 22 pound stuffed turkey, and a bobcat. The rest of the lesson consisted of Cote allowing students to get up close to these stuffed animals and telling them more about their noteworthy characteristics.
Audra Fitzherbert, their teacher, said that organizing the event was fairly quick, as Cote is a family friend.
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- Maine Guide Jesse Cote shows Teague Park first graders bear teeth during an April 30 wildlife event at the Caribou recreation center. (Chris Bouchard)
“I reached out to him because we have two literacy units about animals, their habitats, mothers, and their young. I knew Jesse knew a lot about this because he’s a Maine guide who owns his own business.”
With Cote on board, Fitzherbert asked the school administration for their approval, obtained field trip permission forms, and then contacted the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center to ensure they had space.
“This is an opportunity that a lot of students wouldn’t get to experience otherwise,” said Fitzherbert, “especially if they’re from a family that’s not really into hunting, fishing, or wildlife conservation. We’ve read a lot of books about lions, tigers, and giraffes, and I wanted to introduce them to something more relevant to their lives.”
Cote said this was not his first time teaching a class, but that it was his first time with first graders.
“The hands-on advantage to doing this with the kids is that they’re connecting dots and making it relative to what they’ve learned in class,” said Cote. “Half the kids’ favorite animal is the cougar, but if you compare that to the bobcat which lives right here, it makes it more tangible, especially considering the value of actually being able to put your hands on it.”
As far as the surprise with the sliding wall, Cote said it was something he “had to do” when he saw the room he would be using.
“I knew I wanted to hit a lot of key topics at first,” he said, “and I’d lose them if they saw all of those animals out at first. The bear rug is always a huge hit.”
Cote said that while he doesn’t teach students on a regular basis, he saw this class as a “great opportunity.”
“You can’t beat the interaction with the kids,” he said. “They’ll go back and talk about it. They all seemed to have a good time and they had the tangible advantage of a hands-on lesson about these animals.”
Fitzherbert agreed, and said she and her students gained a great deal from the special lesson.
“Jesse was awesome,” she said. “He owns a guide service business and offers a ton of stuff for people to do. He’s a good resource for The County.”
