Comments on: A family in Wisconsin found a living frog in a carton of organic salad

A family in Wisconsin found a living frog in a carton of organic salad

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 06:55:09 -0800

A family in Wisconsin found a living frog in a carton of organic salad greens. (Wisconsin, United States of America.)

By: amtho

amtho — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:06:51 -0800

Google images search for [frog in lettuce bag] There are a LOT of distinct incidents with cute frog photos included. At least one ended up with the little frog living as a pet. I'm betting there are more. This is a _good_ thing. We know and accept that plants grow outside. Organic, healthy plants are safe for wildlife and don't kill frogs. You should wash your produce even if it's bagged (people have gotten salmonella from unwashed bagged lettuce before, I believe). No news here, except...so cuuuute!

By: mittens

mittens — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:07:17 -0800

Having bought that exact brand and variety of salad, I can confirm that the frog was probably the healthiest, least-wilted thing in the box.

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:10:58 -0800

This is a _good_ thing. We know and accept that plants grow outside. Organic, healthy plants are safe for wildlife and don't kill frogs I was dismayed/disturbed that the woman in the article seemed outraged about the presence of the frog, but not at all concerned about the frog's wellbeing. She was planning on taking the frog BACK TO THE SUPERMARKET. Surely if you get a random !bonus!frog, the first step is a) check if it's a species native to your area or not; b) contact a wildlife rescue to see if they think it needs to come in for medical attention or not, or if it's safe to release into your garden.

By: Glinn

Glinn — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:12:37 -0800

The family had planned on returning the lettuce, frog included, to Pick 'n Save, but somehow the little amphibian escaped overnight. How.. Well, I still don't know if it survived but it's probably having an adventure!

By: Frowner

Frowner — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:13:12 -0800

It's not disgusting, it's just a frog! Frogs are ipso facto cute and not disgusting! This wasn't a cockroach! Honestly, lettuce family, what is wrong with you? Just wash the goddamn lettuce and find a safe place to release the poor little frog.

By: Glinn

Glinn — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:15:19 -0800

At least one ended up with the little frog living as a pet. I caught a mouse recently (after being mouse-less for many months). I did for many moments consider setting up a mouse house. But then I thought about all the baby mice and that just would not work out. (It was relocated beneath some healthy bushes)

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:16:05 -0800

and find a safe place to release the poor little frog Absolutely! (altho please check that it's a frog native to your area first, you don't want to e.g. release Canadian frogs into Texas.) (as an Australian, I am Very Aware of the havoc introduced species can cause. Cane toads *shudder*)

By: rikschell

rikschell — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:22:02 -0800

Everybody do the Michigan raaaaag!

By: mittens

mittens — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:28:44 -0800

Errrr....what do you do if the frog is not native?

By: The_Auditor

The_Auditor — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:29:22 -0800

i'd pay extra for a live salad frog!

By: datawrangler

datawrangler — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:34:38 -0800

Clearly a challenge to the company that produces Cracker Jacks to step up their game.

By: chavenet

chavenet — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:35:34 -0800

This reminds me of an old joke: Q: What's worse than finding a worm in your apple? A. Finding half a worm! (adjust for frogs)

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:36:18 -0800

Errrr....what do you do if the frog is not native? See if you can find a wildlife rehabilitation charity that will return it to it's native environment (wildlife charities often use chains of volunteer drivers or subsidised aeroplane transport to do this) or a zoo that will keep it.

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:39:24 -0800

I feel ripped off - the only things I have ever found on lettuce/salad/cut flowers were: tiny pale green garden spiders (harmless); tiny pale white garden spiders (harmless); tiny pale green caterpillars (I'd prefer not to eat them); slugs (I'd prefer not to eat them, especially in the Eastern States of Australia where slugs can carry parasitic nematodes that primarily infect the respiratory and circulatory systems of vertebrates and which are a genuine serious medical threat to humans.)

By: [insert clever name here]

[insert clever name here] — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:49:01 -0800

I've never found anything in my organic lettuce. Which worries me, because it sounds like I've just not been looking close enough.

By: beagle

beagle — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:49:13 -0800

"found a living frog in a carton of organic salad" Basically good news. A dead frog would be much more concerning IMHO.

By: ShooBoo

ShooBoo — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:55:15 -0800

We got a live wasp in a bag of nuts.

By: Didymus

Didymus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:10:04 -0800

frog in salad, mouse in beer bottle, squirrel in condom, tale as old as time

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:18:10 -0800

When I worked at Trader Joes, we would find all sorts of animals in the organic produce. It was common enough that it was only notable when the frog (or whatever) was still alive and kicking...

By: chavenet

chavenet — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:27:24 -0800

Didymus: "mouse in beer bottle" there's legal precedents

By: The_Vegetables

The_Vegetables — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:39:58 -0800

When I worked at Trader Joes, we would find all sorts of animals in the organic produce. It was common enough that it was only notable when the frog (or whatever) was still alive and kicking... If this story was from Loo-zi-ana, that frog would be some free protein. It tastes like chicken.

By: JoeXIII007

JoeXIII007 — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:06:50 -0800

Everybody do the Michigan raaaaag! Context for the uninitiated

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:49:09 -0800

We were shucking some corn one summer afternoon and there was a big live striped caterpillar inside. I said, "Look! We got a caterpillar in the corn!" And my son, then about 5, said, huge eyed, "For free?!?!"

By: jamjam

jamjam — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 10:41:37 -0800

I keep hearing that some of those old stories about frogs being found alive after being walled up in tree cavities for years (e.g. Frank Edward's Strange Animals) have modern, authenticated examples, but I don't have any links to offer.

By: The_Vegetables

The_Vegetables — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:02:59 -0800

Context for the uninitiated yt more context: the cartoon was based on a real event And personally I love the line from the article "The same year, a Texas political delegation led by Senator Earle Mayfield presented the docile lizard to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House for his inspection" More context on Calvin Coolidge: Coolidge gained a reputation as a small-government conservative with a taciturn personality and dry sense of humor that earned him the nickname "Silent Cal" "Here's a lizard sir for you to look at." Imagine that conversation.

By: Smedly, Butlerian jihadi

Smedly, Butlerian jihadi — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:13:16 -0800

Ooh, a rare instance when my job and interests become relevant!! So, yeah, with 15 years in produce now (10 retail and 5 wholesale), I have seen a few things. Since I am a bit of a nerd for nature stuff, I can add detail. Trigger warning: spiders ahead. I had a pet brown anole that hitched a ride in a bin of watermelon from Florida to MN. I kept him alive for two years! Also, because my roommate at the time was pretty bold and also worked in produce, we had a pet black widow that came in on grapes from California. It was his decision to keep it, but it was cute. We named her Charlotte. At the new gig, working wholesale, we just recently had a scorpion make it from Central America to Washington in a case of bananas. (As I said, I'm a nerd for this stuff, so I looked at species pics online until I was fairly confident of a match -- it was not dangerous). More concerning, I have heard of live banana spiders very rarely surviving the trip. Those will give you a bad day. However, mostly only produce workers are at risk. Regarding black widows, be aware of the possibility of this happening late in the season, basically August-September, in organic grapes from California. I have seen two dead, one alive in the 10 years that I handled bagged grapes 5 days/wk. NOTE for the arachnophobes, while this does happen, it is very uncommon. Again, over 15 years, 10 years hands on every day, I've only seen it 3 times. However, Black widows are potentially lethal, and even non-lethal bites can have serious, long lasting medical complications. If this happens, the spider will be in a webbed area fairly deep within the cluster of grapes, where stemlets come together and are fairly dense. If you see it, you will think "What is that? It looks weird." The spider may not be immediately evident, however. All you are likely to see is a white sort of filmy area. (I assume the spider weaves a protective pocket around itself.) Grapes immediately around the area are likely to be somewhat decayed and not appetizing. (This is the exact presentation that I saw in each of the three instances I have seen a widow in grapes.) If you see something like this and are feeling bold and are confident handling venomous animals, you can explore it with a knife or fork over the sink. It is a much safer course of action to just throw it away. Put it in the blender or microwave or whatever form of "killing it with fire" that you prefer. Black widows are not fast movers, or aggressive, so you will not be at risk as long as you're not poking at it with your fingers. Also, the spider will be fatigued from cold and travel, and will probably be dead. Dead spiders cannot bite. For reference, typical time for product to get from the field to retail sales floor at this time of year is minimally 7-10 days, and can be significantly longer. That is assuming you do not live in California, where it can be significantly shorter, 2-4 days from field to store. Regarding a live frog in organic greens, that's pretty wild. Those are washed with a precisely calibrated bleach solution, usually 3 times before packaging. Temps are strictly controlled between 34-40 degrees F. From the processing facility to the sales floor is probably at least a week in the Midwest, depending mostly on the "turns" in the warehouse and at the store level. I have some items like this that I am responsible for, and our inventory, as tight as I can run it, is usually at our warehouse for 2-3 days, after a 2 day trip from California, and then is probably at the store for another day or two before being front of the slot in the store. Add another day or two for travel time to the Midwest. So all told, that's a pretty hardy frog! Regarding non-local frogs in the environment - one escapee is not going to make a breeding population, and anyway, it eventually gets really cold in Wisconsin. Probably no big deal if it escaped.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:31:34 -0800

Add me to the chorus of people confused by her reaction. Besides the fact that she was going to return the frog to the supermarket, she was also planning on doing it the next day? Like she was just going to leave the frog in there all night when it was probably already trapped for at least a few days? How does this happen? Well lettuce are plants and plants live outdoors. Frogs also live outdoors. There was a frog on the lettuce when the lettuce was picked. The frog was alive because the lettuce was not sprayed with poison. Does she imagine her lettuce is grown in some kind of clean room greenhouse? Like if there's a rat or a roach or something in your food then that means the food processing facilities were not sanitary. If there is something that lives outdoors in fields in your lettuce, that means your lettuce was grown in a field. Get over yourself. Help the frog and rinse off your lettuce.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:37:46 -0800

it eventually gets really cold in Wisconsin. Probably no big deal if it escaped. Frogs live in places where it gets really cold. They bury themselves in mud under water while the lake/pond freezes. I don't understand how they breather, either, but apparently they've worked it out. And the problem is that if multiple people assume "one frog is all good". Also, frogs might be able to do pathenogensis, though whether that does/could happen in nature is unclear.

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:43:45 -0800

it eventually gets really cold in Wisconsin. Probably no big deal if it escaped Some species of frog - like the ones found in Alaska and the Swiss Alps - can actually survive buried in SNOW or frozen ground! Some species of frog have a kind of natural anti-freeze in their blood (so cool!)

By: Didymus

Didymus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:03:47 -0800

cpbc, you're the resident expert on this stuff. Can frogs breathe from their butts or is that just turtles (and me, I was raised by butt-breathing turtles)

By: mittens

mittens — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:10:52 -0800

Can frogs breathe from their butts Fish can make fingers out of their butts...on an evolutionary timescale.

By: chavenet

chavenet — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:37:00 -0800

mittens: "Fish can make fingers out of their butts" never eating fish fingers again

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:42:59 -0800

cpbc, you're the resident expert on this stuff. Can frogs breathe from their butts or is that just turtles I've never HEARD of frogs breathing through their butts, but I'm not an expert, I'm just a person with a degree in History/English Literature who reads a lot about wildlife; watches a lot of wildlife documentaries; and saw a lot of wildlife while walking/hiking back when I was able to do that.

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:45:08 -0800

cpbc, you're the resident expert on this stuff. Can frogs breathe from their butts or is that just turtles Frog breathe through their lungs AND their skin, and some frogs can get enough oxygen from ONLY breathing through their skin. "Take the Titicaca water frog, for example. This underwater frog solely breathes through its skin. It has numerous skin folds that increase the creature's surface area, thus allowing more gaseous exchange. In fact, the frog often performs underwater push-ups to ensure that water reaches all its many skin folds."

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:18:29 -0800

When my wife was about 12, her family was having oyster stew for dinner, and her little brother said "Hey, there's a frog in the stew!" Somebody replied that that's just an oyster. He said "OK but it sure looks like a frog", and started to put it in his mouth, when the family noticed it actually was a frog and stopped him.

By: Don Pepino

Don Pepino — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:19:23 -0800

Errrr....what do you do if the frog is not native? Two choices. Choice One, Invest in a massive aquarium. Fill it full of vegetation, water elements, and rock formations--in short, all feasible natural phenomena common to the frog's native clime. Purchase eggs, pupae, or larvae of whatever insects the frog eats and put them in the aquarium. Install the frog in its new home. Pray that it is a gravid female and that all its children survive so that soon and forevermore you'll be treated to an incessant chorus of whatever charming vocalizations this species of frog is famous for. Choice Two, Put the frog in a disposable container from which it cannot escape. Make sure there are holes in the container so that the frog can breathe. Put the container with the frog in it into the refrigerator and leave it there for several hours. The cold will put the frog in a dormant state and, supposedly, anesthetize it. Move the frog from the refrigerator to the freezer and leave it there for several hours. It will freeze painlessly and lethally. At least that's the theory, the painlessly part. The lethally part is well proven. slugs (I'd prefer not to eat them, especially in the Eastern States of Australia where slugs can carry parasitic nematodes that primarily infect the respiratory and circulatory systems of vertebrates and which are a genuine serious medical threat to humans.) You guys have the rat lungworm, too? Shudder...

By: Didymus

Didymus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:35:00 -0800

"Take the Titicaca water frog, the balls on this MeFite

By: JoeXIII007

JoeXIII007 — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:42:55 -0800

Thanks for the context, Vegetables!

By: 99_

99_ — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:51:35 -0800

mittens: "Errrr....what do you do if the frog is not native?" If you are in the Los Angeles area, contact the Star Eco Station. If it is native, you can still contact them, because they give tours on the weekend and you can feed a tortoise.

By: mittens

mittens — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 15:20:30 -0800

My local wildlife rescue group is probably reading this thread now, shivering in terror that I'm about to bring them yet another animal. (But they did such a good job with the garter snake who had eaten a decoy egg from the broody hen's nest!)

By: Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:39:37 -0800

By: chariot pulled by cassowaries

chariot pulled by cassowaries — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 17:36:33 -0800

I got a live ladybug in a bag of basil once. I was delighted, since one of my windowsill plants was infested with aphids. I put the ladybug on the plant and it stayed for the rest of the day, merrily chomping. Some eco shops actually sell ladybug eggs so that you can hatch the eggs at home, and put the live ladybugs into your garden as a pesticide-free alternative to control aphids etc! For example.

By: JasonSch

JasonSch — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 20:56:26 -0800

Clearly a challenge to the company that produces Cracker Jacks to step up their game. I came into this thread just to make a "Croaker Jacks prize" joke. You were so close! :-)

By: jamjam

jamjam — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:34:44 -0800

MtDewd: "When my wife was about 12, her family was having oyster stew for dinner, and her little brother said "Hey, there's a frog in the stew!" Somebody replied that that's just an oyster. He said "OK but it sure looks like a frog", and started to put it in his mouth, when the family noticed it actually was a frog and stopped him." That's what you get for heating up your stew too slowly!

By: SoberHighland

SoberHighland — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 08:11:20 -0800

I worked at a fancy-pants garden center a few years back. We'd get deliveries from Florida and other points south, and have creatures show up on delivery day. The indoor tropical plants that went to the greenhouse would occasionally (very rarely) include frogs and toads. There was this big "tough guy" that worked at the place who loved amphibians. He took them home and kept them in aquariums and terrariums, and some lived for years this way. Everyone knew to tell Danny when they found a toad. He also loved tropical plants, so his home headquarters for the creatures were full of live plants. He had a couple small snakes as pets, too. He had photos of his setups and frogs, toads and stuff on his phone, which he would proudly show off if asked.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 15:30:37 -0800

A friend worked in the kitchen at McMurdo, in Antarctica. I'm trying to remember what he found in a box of salad there... a snail, I think? (This was long enough ago that I would have to dig out the paper letters to get an answer.) The kitchen crew named it Anne Frank and looked after it until it could be put on a plane back to a more appropriate continent.