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At a planar saddle equilibrium with $m_{-}<0<m_{+}$, positive saddle quantity $m_{-}+m_{+}>0$ is equivalent to saddle index $\delta <1$. The local passage followed by the regular return has leading transverse map $s\mapsto C{s}^{\delta }$, $C>0$. Its derivative diverges as $s\downarrow 0$, so a nearby periodic orbit created by the saddle-loop splitting is repelling. This local mechanism agrees with the growth of the unstable periodic orbit born at a subcritical Hopf bifurcation in the quadratic Bogdanov–Takens unfolding.