What would you do if you found a frog in your lettuce container? Like, not just “oh, it might have slipped in after I had opened it for lunch”, no, it’s more like “how did you manage to get sucked into all of the harvesting machinery, get packaged, distributed to possibly a whole different state and end up in my house without anyone noticing what’s up?” No joke, it actually happened.
Simon Curtis found a tiny tree frog in his Romaine lettuce recently, and wrote a whole Twitter thread about it chock-full of feel-good vibes and adorableness.
More Info: Twitter
What do you do if you end up finding a frog in your lettuce package?
Image credits: simoncurtis
So, a few days before Christmas, musician, actor, and author Simon Curtis posted a picture of what he found in his plastic-packaged Romaine lettuce—a teeny-tiny tree frog.
Turns out, they can sometimes get scooped up in the farm before packaging, and it’s not just them, but pretty much any tiny animal that decides to find itself in the plantation, but I digress.
Musician Simon Curtis recently found a frog in his salad box that started a beautiful relationship
Image credits: simoncurtis
So, here we are, Curtis is trying to figure out what to do with the little guy, deciding to keep him for a few days as it’s currently freezing outside—just 27°F (-3°C). In the meantime, he tries to figure out how to go about taking care of him.
Now, I say him because Curtis ends up calling the frog Tony. No official information on its sex, but who cares, Tony is an amazing name for an amazing frog.
At first, Simon was just trying to figure what to do with the tiny critter, so first thing's first, his name is now Tony
Image credits: simoncurtis
And Tony loves to escape his enclosure. Yes, we too wonder how did he get up there
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
Anywho, over the following days, the internet keeps getting updates on Tony in tweet form. In said tweets, he explains how he has turned his container of residence into a home by plopping down a mason jar lid and filling it with drinking water, spraying the sides of the container so it’s nice and moist inside, and putting in some more flora (a.k.a lettuce).
Tony also manages to escape on multiple occasions, getting himself in places you wouldn’t expect, like atop a door frame. Of course, he was eventually found and returned to his plastic house. And Tony didn’t seem to mind being carried around either, allowing everyone to get a feel for just how tiny he is.
The Twitter thread was a story that extended over a span of several days with frequent updates
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
Simon ended up getting him some wax worms and also got in touch with Mark Howery, Senior Wildlife Diversity Biologist at Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, to figure out how to take care of Tony and to figure out if Tony can be released back into the wild. Howery also identified Tony as a tree frog.
Throughout the days, Tony was upgraded to new accommodations, i.e. a container that’s more fitting for a frog with tiny pebbles, more lettuce, and even a tiny hollow log where he apparently loves to chill.
The thread was an instant success on Twitter, garnering over 68k likes
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
The thread reached its peak when Simon remembered something from ages ago—back when he was just 10 years old, he was fighting leukemia, and he had a favorite stuffed support animal, which was actually a tree frog. Some things never change!
Just as well, after consulting with explorer and biologist Dr. Jonathan Kolby, he found out that it would be best to keep Tony as a pet, as releasing him into the wild might mean introducing an invasive species.
Once Simon figured it all out, Tony got a new home, some wax worms, and then came the hard part--finding out when to release him into the wild
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
This adorably wholesome Twitter thread soon went viral, garnering over 67,900 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets ever since its posting. People online had a lot to say. Besides just falling in love with Tony—just look at his adorable face—there were a lot of people quite surprised that frogs in lettuce packages are a thing, and even Petco got in touch and gave Tony a $500 gift card to get settled in his new home.
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
Image credits: simoncurtis
Turns out, Simon was fighting leukemia when he was a kid, and his fav plushie? Yes, it's a frog!
Image credits: simoncurtis
And then a miracle happened--after consulting with an expert, Simon decided to keep Tony as he might become an invasive species if he is to be let go
Image credits: simoncurtis
You can check out the full Twitter thread here, but before you run off, tell us what’s the best thing you’ve found in your lettuce package in the comment section below!