Cat Rescue Guy

Leo is a one and a half year old orange and white cat that lives with Karen and Justin.  Leo went around the corner into the backyard of a neighbor and, for whatever reason, climbed the very large oak tree there where he got stuck.  It took a day before Karen and Justin found him, and when they did, they called me to see if I could get Leo down.  It was late in the afternoon, but since he was described as a friendly cat, even to strangers, I thought this would be a quick rescue and decided to go on out there right away. When I arrived, I found Leo about 35 feet high in a very tall and large water oak tree with very large branches.  Leo was crying for help.  With a friendly cat and a tree that is easy to climb, this rescue should go very quickly.  I used my big sling-shot to shoot a weighted bag attached to a string up into the tree above Leo.  I would use this string to pull my climbing rope into position.  As soon as I did this, however, Leo's mood changed.  He was clearly scare

Pat and Noel were sitting in their backyard when they heard a familiar meow.  They looked around and discovered their cat, Ben, about 40 feet high in one of their pine trees.  Noel tried to reach Ben with his ladder, but he could not quite get high enough, and Ben refused to do anything to make it easier. Ben got stuck in one of these trees once before just two months ago, and Pat called me to see if I could rescue him.  I was happy to try, but Ben is not the most sociable of cats, and he would not let me get close to him.  He eventually fell from the extreme end of a branch, but survived the fall just fine.  I did not want a repeat of that rescue, so I was determined this time to make friends with him and bring him down gently. Ben is not a people-loving cat.  While he loves Pat and Noel, he has little tolerance for any strangers.  I knew I would have my work cut out for me, so as I drove over there, I thought about how I would approach him.  To avoid scaring him at the beginnin