{"id":1363,"date":"2024-02-24T10:15:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T15:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/?p=1363"},"modified":"2025-02-18T16:19:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T21:19:45","slug":"la-casa-zarigueya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/?p=1363","title":{"rendered":"La Casa Zarigu\u00ebya"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(scroll down for english)
En 2020 constru\u00ed, con el carpintero Marcos, una caba\u00f1a. La intenci\u00f3n fue que sea oficina y taller, pero acab\u00f3 siendo el hogar de Daniela y m\u00edo. Vivimos aqu\u00ed desde entonces, con alfombras sobre el piso de madera. Durante el tiempo de construcci\u00f3n, tuvimos muchos avistamientos de zarig\u00fceyas y encontramos una muerta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

La zarig\u00fceya vive en toda Am\u00e9rica y es el \u00fanico marsupial del continente. Su cuerpo mide unos 50 cm de largo y su cola prensil m\u00e1s o menos lo mismo. Es similar en tama\u00f1o a un gato. Tiene unas manos delicad\u00edsimas, casi como las humanas pero m\u00e1s finas. En Australia hay muchas otras zarig\u00fceyas, incluidas 5 especies en miniatura con peque\u00f1os cuerpos de 10 cm y colas de 15 cm. Muchas est\u00e1n en peligro de extinci\u00f3n inminente.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durante la construcci\u00f3n de la caba\u00f1a nos encontramos con zarig\u00fceyas en el camino a la antigua casa y un d\u00eda encontr\u00e9 una muerta, salvajemente atacada por perros. Los humanos tambi\u00e9n las matan a menudo. La colgu\u00e9 en un \u00e1rbol para que se secara su esqueleto. Un par de a\u00f1os antes hab\u00eda enterrado una zarigueya pensando desenterrar sus huesos en unos meses, pero cuando cav\u00e9 ya no qued\u00f3 nada. Al cabo de unos meses recuper\u00e9 del arbol su delicado cr\u00e1neo y sus maravillosos dientes omn\u00edvoros. En la parte delantera son casi como plumas, para pelar o levantar pieles o membranas. Justo detr\u00e1s est\u00e1n los incisivos, para cortar tejidos, y detr\u00e1s dientes para triturar y, detr\u00e1s, para moler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seg\u00fan una leyenda mexicana, la zarig\u00fceya rob\u00f3 el fuego a los gigantes y a los jaguares para tra\u00e9rselo a los humanos. Hace 8000 a\u00f1os, en la costa ecuatoriana, los escultores le hicieron homenajes antropog\u00e9nicos. Se mueve en la noche, sin peligro para los humanos, busca comida, trepa a los \u00e1rboles y se desliza bajo los arbustos. Es amiga de los jardineros, pues se alimenta de babosas y otras plagas. Tal vez tenga a sus cr\u00edas aferradas a su espalda, 8 o 10 peque\u00f1os todos colgando de ella mientras realiza su trabajo nocturno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mont\u00e9 el cr\u00e1neo y las mand\u00edbulas con sus maravillosos dientes sobre un peque\u00f1o trozo de tabla y lo colgu\u00e9 en la entrada de la caba\u00f1a que bautizamos como “Casa Zarigueya”. Con el paso de los a\u00f1os, el sol y la lluvia fueron erosionando los huesos y, al cabo de un tiempo, ya no quedaba casi nada en la tabla, as\u00ed que la descolgu\u00e9. Los huesos de la zarigueya son todos muy finos, como sus delicadas manos, por lo que no es de extra\u00f1ar que se desvanezcan en el suelo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M\u00e1s o menos al mismo tiempo de descolgar la tabla, una zarigueya empez\u00f3 a visitarnos todas las noches. S\u00f3lo la habiamos visto una vez, cuando la sorprendimos y se qued\u00f3 atrapada dentro de una bolsa de galletas para perros, hasta que saqu\u00e9 la foto que encabeza este texto en enero 2025. Normalmente es muy r\u00e1pida y s\u00f3lo percibes la sombra de su presencia. Al parecer son conocidos por hacerse los muertos en situaciones de peligro (“Play possum”), pero mi experiencia es de agilidad y movimiento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayer vino a visitarme como de costumbre. Le hab\u00eda dejado un cuenco con uvillas. S\u00f3lo cogi\u00f3 una, la abri\u00f3, se comi\u00f3 la fruta esf\u00e9rica dorada y tir\u00f3 el envoltorio. Luego lami\u00f3 el plato del gato y desapareci\u00f3 en la noche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGLISH ___><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020 I built, with the carpenter Marcos, a cabin. It was meant to be an office and workshop but ended up being home for Daniela and I. We have been living here since then, carpets on the wooden floors. During the time of building, the zarigueya – or possum – was very present in various ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The zarigu\u00ebya lives throughout the Americas and is the only marsupial of the continent. Her body is about 50 cm long and its prehensile tail about that again. More or less like a cat. She has the most delicate hands, almost like human hands but finer. In Australia there are lots of other zarigu\u00ebyas, including 5 species of miniature ones with little bodies of 10cm and tails of 15 cm. Many are in danger of imminent extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the construction of the cabin we encountered zarigu\u00ebyas on the track to the old house and one day I found one dead, savaged by dogs. Humans often kill them too. I hung her up in a tree to dry out her skeleton. A couple of years before I had buried a zarigu\u00ebya thinking to dig up its bones in a few months but when I dug there was nothing there anymore. After some months I retrieved her bones and particularly her delicate skull and wonderful omnivorous teeth. At the front they are almost like feathers, for peeling or lifting skins or membranes. Just behind them are the incisors, for cutting into tissues, and then behind them teeth for shredding and, at the back, for grinding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a Mexican legend, the zarigu\u00ebya stole fire from the giants and the jaguars to bring it to the humans. 8000 years ago on the Ecuadorian coast, sculptors made anthropomorphic homages to her. She moves in the night, no danger to humans, foraging, climbs trees and slips beneath bushes. She is a gardener’s friend as she eats slugs and other pests. Maybe she will have her babies clinging to her back, 8 or 10 little ones all hanging onto her as she goes about her nightly work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mounted the skull and jaws and their wonderful teeth on a small piece of board and hung it in the entrance of the cabin which we named “Casa Zarigu\u00ebya”, the zarigu\u00ebya’s house. Over the years the sun and the rain gradually eroded the bones and after a while there was next to nothing left on the board so I took it down. The bones of the zarigu\u00ebya are all very fine, like her delicate hands, not surprising that they just fade back into the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More or less at the same time as taking down the board, a zarigu\u00ebya began to visit us every night. We have only seen her once, when we surprised her and she got stuck inside a bag of dog biscuits. Usually she’s very quick and you just perceive the shadow of her presence. Apparently they are known for playing dead in dangerous situations – playing possum – but my experience is of agility and movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday she came to visit as usual. I had left a bowl of uvillas out for her. She had taken only one from the bowl, opened it and eaten the spherical golden fruit and discarded the wrapper. Then she licked the cat’s bowl clean and disappeared back into the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(scroll down for english) En 2020 constru\u00ed, con el carpintero Marcos, una caba\u00f1a. La intenci\u00f3n fue que sea oficina y taller, pero acab\u00f3 siendo el hogar de Daniela y m\u00edo. Vivimos aqu\u00ed desde entonces, con alfombras sobre el piso de madera. Durante el tiempo de construcci\u00f3n, tuvimos muchos avistamientos de zarig\u00fceyas y encontramos una muerta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-textos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1363"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/word.root.ps\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}