Close encounter of the Bird Kind.

Fintan's trip to the Zoo with Tiarnan had, as usual, its moments of surprise.

As we wandered about the Zoo, we encountered, a peacock running freely about. It was a male with its tail feathers hidden from display. It approached Fintan rather closely and he must have felt threatened by this, given their relative sizes (the peacock was quite big from Fintan's perspective). So, as the peacock neared, Fintan raised a short stick he happened to have in his hands, clearly intending to throw it at the bird to scare him off.

"Don't do that Fintan!" I ordered, quickly.

He dropped his raised arm, then said: "Why? Is it because it has dinosaur feet?"

I looked down at the bird's feet and, sure enough, the feet looked like those typically depicted for dinosaurs. Fintan, three, had spotted the commonality between birds and dinosaurs by observation. Presumably, he was saying that if it had dinosaur feet, perhaps it was like dinosaurs in other ways too - and so might prove to be unexpectedly dangerous, if he attacked it.

With a heightened respect, he let his arm fall and just watched the bird carefully. It didn't approach any nearer and, perhaps sensing that all was not well with Fintan's response, it backed off and away.

Fintan was very content in the Zoo. His liking for animals is most clear and there, he seems to be most happy.

(If you would like to read more of Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and six months, or Tiarnan, sixteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Singapore Zoo: a day out.

Yesterday we went to Singapore zoo with Tiarnan, sixteen months and Fintan, three.

Now, Tiarnan had never been to a zoo before and his reactions were most interesting. When he was taken to the White Tiger enclosure, he looked inside at its green expanse and seemed puzzled: he didn't know what he was supposed to see. It was about a minute of looking around, until, one sudden moment of perception, he saw the two big cats basking in the Sun. His face split wide in his enthusiastic grin, the one he saves for when he is very happy, and he pointed at the White Tigers. They were, indeed, beautiful - and it is somewhat saddening to read, elsewhere, that there are as few as 7,000 tigers (of all kinds) left in the world today. 100 years ago, that total was over 100,000. Someone has been doing a lot of hunting.

There were several instances of Tiarnan's behaviour that are worth remarking on. Throughout he was very intense, with a slight frown as he looked at the animals, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing: these strange looking animals were actually alive and moving.

On one occasion, Tiarnan excitedly pointed at a metal bin and said, very clearly: "Zebra!". We looked at the bin. It was black and white striped, like a Zebra. It was a funny moment - and an enlightening one, too. Tiarnan has never seen a Zebra in the flesh - but he recognized its coat pattern when suggested in paint. That speaks well of his visual perception - and ability to associate.

Later he saw actual Zebras and he was reduced to pointing and going "OOOH!", so excited was he.

At one time, he pointed and said: "Crocodile!" and looking where he had pointed, we saw a TV monitor, with a crocodile showing. I find it interesting that he is already able to name and identify animals of all kinds - and yet he had never seen any in the flesh, until yesterday.

I will save Fintan's zoo behaviour for another post.