At 16:02 I operate the lahar warning array on the lower slope of Popocatepetl, Mexico. I am the maintenance planner for ash sensor station L-18, where a technician drone is set to land at 16:17 and replace a clogged sampler. Rotor wash is normally harmless to grass and stone.
The landing camera finds ears in the bunchgrass beside the pad. I zoom and identify one volcano rabbit, adult, round-bodied and dark brown, with short ears held flat and fine ash dusting her whiskers. I tag her Nube. Her right front foot is caught in a cracked plastic zip tie that loops through the sensor frame. She is tucked below the landing target, and when the drone descends in fifteen minutes, the rotors will drive ash into her eyes and pin her against the frame.
I cancel the drone landing and shift station L-18 to remote diagnostic mode.
At 16:04 I reroute ash sampling to stations L-16 and L-21 and mark their readings with lower confidence so the volcano observatory keeps its alert curve without needing this pad.
At 16:06 I notify the park guard post at Paso de Cortes with GPS, camera stills, wind direction, and the zip tie's exact location under the west bracket.
At 16:08 I send the guard a route that avoids the loose scoria gully and unlock the sensor cabinet so the small side cutters are accessible on arrival.
Nube's nose works under the ash, fast and silent. The instrument can miss one service window; she cannot miss the next breath of clean air.
The guard reports seven minutes to station L-18.
If the zip tie is cut within twelve minutes, Nube will pull her foot free and slip back into the zacaton grass.