Many of you will remember the childhood story by the Grimm brothers of Tom Thumb, the little boy no bigger than his father’s thumb.
For such a small human he went on some crazy , wild adventures. He was swallowed by a cow, he fought giants and went on to become King Arthur’s favourite person.
This English Foklore story was published in 1621 for the first time, and was the very first fairy tale published in English.
By the 19th century the daring tales of Tom Thumb were a fixture in every child’s nursery library.
The name Tom Thumb has thus become synonymous with all tiny things from animals to locomotives.
Meet Tom Thumb
A few months back we visited the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch and met the world’s smallest ostrich, Tom Thumb.
Tom Thumb aside from being the cutest,friendliest ostrich I’ve ever met only measured 127cm tall, fully grown.
At the time he was just a little taller than bear, who was fascinated by this gentle creature.
We were even able to softly stroke his feathers and feed him from our hands.
An average male ostrich measures between 1.8 and 2.7m, making Tom Thumb a considerable amount smaller than them.
Guinness book of records
Tom Thumb earned his place in the Guinness Book of Records on 15 July 2011.
You can find his entry here
His certificate stands proudly in the Ranch museum.
A Sad Goodbye
The presence of Tom Thumb will be missed by the tons of visitors who flock to the farm and I for one am most greatful that bear was able to meet this amazing bird.
One day, as we flip through the photos journaling his early years, I shall look back fondly at our visit with Tom Thumb.
