A family were stunned to find a tree frog hidden inside a bunch of Sainsbury's bananas.
Iain Holloway, 48, made the surprise discovery when his family were unpacking their Sainsbury's food delivery at home on September 23. The tiny 1.5-inch amphibian was still alive despite its 6,920km journey across the Atlantic from its Caribbean home.
The RSPCA believe the Hispaniolan common tree frog had been wrapped up with the bananas 'for some time' and were amazed it was in such good condition. The stowaway creature is now in the care of the RSPCA after being collected from the Holloway family home.
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Mr Holloway said: “We were unpacking the shopping in the kitchen and my wife turned to me and said ‘look there’s a frog in the bananas’ and I said ‘sorry, there’s a what in the bananas?’. We then all stood in the kitchen looking at each other wondering what to do as there isn’t really a manual for these sorts of things.
“We rang the RSPCA who advised us to look at the information about frogs on their website as we didn’t know whether it was a non native species. In the meantime our 12-year-old son started to do a bit of research and told us he thought the markings looked like an Hispaniolan common tree frog.
“It was a complete surprise to see this little creature in our kitchen so far from home and we’ve all had a bit of a chuckle about it since.”
RSPCA animal rescue officer Jonny Wood collected the frog from their Staffordshire home on September 24, the day after the family had found it. Jonny said: “The little frog was bright and alert and has since been feeding well.
"The Holloway family did exactly the right thing by not touching the amphibian, given the uncertainty about what sort of frog we were dealing with.
“When I arrived at their house I could see that the stowaway was in fact a Hispaniolan common frog, so Iain’s eldest son turned out to be right and it will definitely be an interesting tale for the family to retell in the future.
“These frogs are not dangerous or poisonous, but very common in the Dominican Republic.”
The Hispaniolan tree frog (Osteopilus dominicensis) is common on Hispaniola - an island divided into the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They are found from sea level up to 6,600 ft (2,000m), breed in standing bodies of water and have a lifespan of four to five years.
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