Cat Rescue Guy

Summer is the slow season for cat-in-tree rescues here in the deep South, but this year has been exceptionally slow. The last rescue I did was just over a month ago, though I did get a few calls recently for cats who came down on their own, including one who came down during the phone call and another who came down after I arrived. Going for a long time without a rescue to do makes me feel useless, but Princess, a two-and-a-half-year-old Calico in Watson, Louisiana, came to my rescue and made me feel useful again. Princess was not happy being stuck near the top of a Tallow tree for two nights, and Laura, her human mama, was stressed and very worried about her. While I don't wish that misery upon them, I was actually quite happy to get back in the saddle again. Princess is a sweet girl, and she gave me a reasonably warm welcome once I climbed up to her, but, while she seemed to enjoy having some company up in the tree with her, she didn't appear to understand that I might be use

This cat is a bit of a mystery. Two people independently noticed this unknown cat crying loudly in distress from the tip top of a tree, and both called me for help. The cat was in a tree on the grounds of a hotel next to the interstate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and neither caller knew or recognized the cat. I could not go out there right away, and it didn't sound like an emergency, so I asked for an update later in the afternoon. When I heard back, the cat was found much lower in the tree but crying in even more distress. The caller, Marsha, was very concerned about the cat and feared it might be injured. It was only twelve feet from the ground now, but was not making any effort to move at all. A few minutes later as I was preparing to go out there, Marsha told me that the cat died. Suddenly, this rescue had turned into a tragic body recovery. At that time, I was not there to see the site and didn't have any pictures, but I could only guess that the cat fell from its earlier p

Let me introduce you to Helios, the suave, ultra-sophisticated, highly-socialized, and supremely confident two-year-old who gets and deserves the best of everything and whose inherent superiority is the envy of every creature in his vast social network. Helios was on one of his frequent family outings at the local park when, during a moment when he was untethered -- now seriously, it is so embarrassing and demeaning for one of his stature to be seen in public wearing a leash or harness as if he were a common pet -- several crows decided to attack him. Some would interpret his running up into the nearest tree as a sign of panic and fear, but in reality, he was just leading the crows into the tree where he could gain a height advantage as well as threaten any nests they might have there. Helios was not intimidated, and he was not stuck in the tree either. He was simply remaining long enough for the crows to regret their actions and learn their lesson even if it meant staying overnight wh

It was already dark when Richard called me to report a small kitten stuck in a tree between the Walmart parking lot and a very busy four-lane highway in Denham Springs, Louisiana. Nothing was known about this kitten, but this typically happens when a kitten hides inside a car with the engine and then jumps out when the car comes to a stop. The driver usually doesn't even know the kitten is there. Once the kitten finds himself in a strange territory, he seeks safety by hiding or climbing something. I don't know if that is what happened in this case, but, regardless, here we are in the dark with a scared, unknown kitten high in a tree in a dangerous environment. Scared kittens won't hesitate to jump out of the tree if they are frightened by my presence in the tree with them, and that would be a disaster if this kitten did that with heavy traffic on three sides of the tree and no other hiding places. Unfortunately, this kitten was afraid of me as I climbed closer to her. She w