One-year-old Marty got a little too bold for his britches when he escaped his house in Denham Springs, Louisiana and jumped the canal behind his back yard to explore the wooded area. We don't know what happened, but Marty ended up very high at the top of a tree just inside the tree line. He was stuck there for two nights before Sara and Tracy found him despite all their hours of frantic searching. He was difficult to see up there (red circle), and my heart sank a bit when I saw him for the first time. With limited access and all the vines and foliage covering the tree, I didn't see a way to use my big sling shot to shoot a line into the tree anywhere with any likelihood of success. That meant I would have to climb the tree using a slow, tedious and strenuous method and do so all the way to the top. Fortunately, Marty must have sensed my despair in addition to his own, because at that moment he responded to the pleas from Sara and Tracy to come down, and that bold boy did indeed start backing down the tree. He came about half way down the tree and settled there on a large limb (yellow circle). He wasn't coming any farther, but I was very grateful to him for making my job much easier.
As I slowly climbed up to him, he would periodically peer down to check my progress. He had been desperate for a rescue, but I could also sense he had some apprehension about this strange man coming up to him. I did my best to convince him of my good intentions, and it must have worked, because, by the time I reached him, he readily sniffed my hand and welcomed me. After I got myself in a closer position, I spread the cat bag over my lap, waited for him to step on my lap, and then I pulled the bag up around him.
I brought him down to the ground and handed him to Sara and Tracy, and it was heart-warming to see them happily visiting with him there while they held him and let him poke his head out of the bag. That's the best part of the rescue: knowing the cat owners are relieved and happy, and the cat is safe, loved, and comfortable again.
