Blackie is a cute, eight-month old, black and white tuxedo cat, and for reasons unknown, she climbed up a large hickory tree next to the driveway. When I arrived, Blackie had been in the tree for four nights and was about 60 feet high and far out near the end of a long limb. As I prepared to climb the tree, Blackie moved around the tree quite freely. She came back to the trunk of the tree, came down some, walked out to the end of other branches on the opposite side of the tree and then returned to her original place. My rope installation process distressed her slightly, but I was pretty sure that she would be friendly to me once she had time to calm down.

When I opened a can of food, however, she quickly overlooked all my faults and came down toward me again. This time, she came close and began to eat the food I held for her in my hand. In no time, I was petting her with my other hand, and she was perfectly comfortable with that. I pulled the food away and placed it in the back of the carrier while she watched. With no hesitation, she walked all the way inside the carrier. I closed the door and brought her down.
Once on the ground, I brought Blackie to Pam and then to Allie who was shy with me but, otherwise, all smiles. We all went inside and set the carrier down on the floor just inside the door. I opened the carrier, and Blackie darted out and to the back of the house to hide in her favorite hiding spot under Pam's bed. The food bowl in the carrier was empty, so Blackie had a full belly while she waited to emerge from hiding.
I packed up and left happy to know that Blackie was no longer suffering in the tree, and Allie would not be crying in bed tonight.