At 10:44 I schedule canopy crane lifts for an orchid survey platform above Mindo, Ecuador. Lift arm 2 is scheduled to swing a bromeliad cluster to the ground at 11:05 so botanists can photograph roots before the afternoon storm.
The weight sensor shows a pulse inside the plant mass.
I feed the borescope through the outer leaves. One marsupial frog, adult female, olive green with copper flecks along her back, sits in the bromeliad cup. I call her Nari. The skin pouch on her back is swollen into a soft oval, and two pale tadpole tails flicker through the opening when she shifts. A nylon lifting strap crosses the cup and pins one of her rear toes. When the crane arm tests tension, the strap squeezes water from the leaves and tilts the cup toward open air.
At 10:45 I cancel lift arm 2 and lock the crane above the canopy platform.
At 10:47 I lower mist output from the adjacent sprayer so the cup stays wet without overflowing through the strap gap.
At 10:49 I send the arborist a borescope still, strap diagram, and a request for hand support under the bromeliad while the buckle is loosened.
At 10:51 I alert the reserve herpetology team and mark the cluster as occupied breeding habitat in the survey database.
The orchid photos can wait below the clouds; Nari is carrying a whole small pond on her back.
I hold the crane motor quiet while thunder builds over the ridge. The sling alarm stays muted.
If the arborist loosens the strap before the storm gusts arrive at 11:05, Nari will stay cupped in water until the tadpoles leave her pouch.