Tiny tree frog travels more than 4,000 miles to the West Midlands on a bunch of bananas
A West Midlands family were left feeling surprised - and unsure of what to do - after opening a pack of bananas and finding a tiny tree frog.
The Hispaniolan common tree frog had made its way to Iain Holloway's house in Tamworth after travelling 4,300 miles from the Atlantic on the bunch of bananas.
After finding the small creature, the family called the RSPCA for advice.
The tiny 1.5-inch amphibian was in good condition, despite being inside the bag of bananas which would have been wrapped up for some time, the RSPCA said.
It had travelled from its home in the Dominican Republic.
Recalling the event, 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 Tamworth the day after the family found it.
He 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 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 and very common in the Dominican Republic.”