Is the two frogs taking shelter with a flower as an umbrella video real?
Claim
Just like the awareness one feels on a first date, frog eyes offer a panoramic view, capturing scenes from the front, above, and sides all at once.
Rating
Explanation
In this 9-second viral clip, we see two frogs taking shelter under a yellow flower from the rain as we can hear the downpour in the video. We can also see that the branch on which they are sitting seems shaken, and they both look cuddling with their arms around their neck. This video is shared by some users which can be seen here and here. Come, let’s check the authenticity of this viral captivating video.
https://twitter.com/peterrosegold/status/1629646681443647488?s=12&t=kIszbQH_arRSG8kPbuGeZw
What’s the truth?
When we started our research using the simple reverse Google image process, we came to know that this picture was taken by an Indonesian wildlife photographer, Ajar Setiadi in 2021. He uploaded this mesmerising frog image on his Instagram page on 2 February 2021. Later, he again re-uploaded the same image on 28 February 2021 stating he won the photo event contest under the heading ‘romance’ for February month.
While we searched further, we found an article published by “My Modern Met” with the title “Wildlife Photographer Captures Tiny Garden Frogs Using Flowers as Umbrellas” on 26 August 2021. According to the article, Ajar Setiadi has been fascinated by the creatures that live in the natural habitats of his hometown, Bogor. He’s been documenting the mysterious lives of the frogs that live in his garden, revealing their fascinating—and often adorable—behaviour.
“Actually, I have frogs as my pets,” Setiadi tells My Modern Met. “Sometimes I play with them in my garden and let them play with the flowers as I am showering my plants.” There’s one image in particular that stands out as the most charming, though: Setiadi managed to capture two frogs huddling together, sheltering from the rain under a flower umbrella. He said it was a sweet scene: “I could only get a few frames because this moment can’t be repeated.”
Thus, through our intensified research we found out that, the above viral video clip of two frogs holding a flower as an umbrella is actually a photograph by the wildlife photographer Ajar Setiadi. It’s not a video clip as shared by many social media users.
Moreover, when we dug a little deeper, we got our hands on the reply post shared by Dr. Neal Krawetz, Founder of Foto Forensics on his Instagram handle to a query posted by Hoax Eye.
In this post, he mentions that there were 3 wires which were erased. This means that the picture that is shot by the photographer has undergone editing work and then is published. Things get more interesting when a user namely HoaxEye asks Dr Neal Krawetz about the reality of the frog photo and he shares more details with the blurry wires in the background from the Foto forensics.
He further explains what it actually means when another user asks for guidance in understanding. Notably, all these above tweets were discussed from November 2017 to August 2019.
This proves that this picture is very old and it is an edited version that is circulated with false claims which finds its way to the top again in the domain. Moreover, this is an image that is made into a video to entice more audiences.
Conclusion:
Therefore, we conclude that the two frogs holding a flower as an umbrella image is an old and edited version spread on social media with false stories.
