Source : Perth Now news
A routine grocery shop turned into a bizarre wildlife encounter when a West Australian household opened a sealed bag of lettuce to find a live frog staring back at them.
The unexpected discovery happened in Esperance, about 700km southeast of Perth, when a share house resident unpacked groceries bought from Woolworths and noticed the small green amphibian sealed inside the plastic packaging.
Originally from New Zealand, Laura Jones and her partner Billie Le Pine said it was their flatmate who made the unusual find in the kitchen.
“All credit to our flatmate, it’s their lettuce and they came home and he’s just in the kitchen cooking up and then he’s like … there’s a frog in the lettuce,” Mr Le Pine told ABC.
“It was just chillin’ in the bag, I think he was having a hell of a time really,”
“Lucky the bag had a few holes in it, he had plenty of pastures to graze on, he was enjoying it.”
Ms Jones said the moment quickly turned into a household spectacle.
“Honestly, it was hilarious. We went around and showed everyone. We were all screaming about it, having a laugh,” she said.
The frog, later named Greg, was filmed sitting inside the packaging in a TikTok video that quickly went viral, attracting millions of views within a day.
Mr Le Pine said the frog was roughly palm-sized and likely travelled a long distance hidden among fresh produce.
“It’s quite a decent-sized frog for a big adventure,” he said.
“It would have probably come from east. Most of our vegetables come from eastern Australia to Esperance.”
Despite the shock, the couple did not lodge a complaint and instead released the amphibian near water close to their home.
“We got him some fresh air, and then he released it with the lettuce,” Ms Jones said.
“We live close to a dam … (he) had a little swim about with his lettuce … and away he hopped.”
Mr Le Pine described the discovery as unforgettable.
“That was the most random thing I’ve ever encountered while opening a bag of lettuce,” he said.
“I’m just glad Greg is back in his natural habitat.”
Woolworths confirmed it had apologised to the customer and launched an investigation.
“Woolworths takes product quality and food safety very seriously,” a spokesperson said.
“We work with a number of lettuce growers in WA and across Australia.
“Our suppliers have rigorous processes to maintain product quality. For heads of lettuce this involves washing and a number of quality checks, which includes checking for foreign materials, before they are packaged and sent to our stores.”
The spokesperson said it was an isolated incident with no other reported cases.
“Our teams are investigating this with our suppliers as a priority,” they said.
