Rusty Squirrel and Armadillo Burrows

On the morning of March 11th, José Marín set out early to walk the reserve, and it was at the foot of the slope where something stopped him — a movement between the trunks: a squirrel with russet fur, almost orange, climbing alone up the bark of a tree with that silent agility they have when they believe no one is watching. He photographed it right there, nearly camouflaged against the wood and the green foliage, before it vanished into the high branches. Further along, skirting the arroyo Los Guardianes, José came across two burrows dug into loose earth, surrounded by exposed roots and fallen leaves. The circular, dark entrances — just the right size — told him everything: armadillo dens. He documented them with photos and exact coordinates — two points separated by barely twenty meters, as though the animal had its own well-defined territory stretching along the stream. From there he continued along the reserve's main arroyo, recording on video what José already knows by heart: that in the mornings, the reserve wakes up with everything at once. Birds moving through the branches, butterflies crossing the pools of light, the occasional mammal that lets itself be seen for just a moment before slipping back into the undergrowth. An ordinary day at Fundación Loros — which, out in the field, is rarely ordinary at all.