Lulu

Lulu is a lucky cat. While she gets to enjoy the indoor life with a loving family, she lives out in the country where she also has many outdoor acres of kitty paradise to explore. But as she has been learning the hard way, that paradise has many dangers as well. Some of those dangers come in the form of predators that she can escape only by climbing a tree. Fortunately, Lulu's climbing instinct is strong. It's the coming down part that she hasn't figured out yet. Consequently, she has found herself stuck in a tree a few times, but her family always managed to get her down one way or another. This time, however, she was 50 feet high in a taller and larger tree than any before, and her family was at a loss to help her down.

 Roy, his wife, Margaret, and Roy's mother, Mary, all did everything they could to get Lulu down. Being very resourceful people, they even figured out a way to haul a large bucket up to Lulu hoping she would be enticed to step inside to get the tuna fish they had placed there. I was very impressed to learn that Roy had used a fishing rod and reel to fling a fishing line over Lulu's branch. He used that fishing line to pull up a larger cord which was attached to the bucket. A great idea and great execution, but it failed only because the steep limb made it impossible to get the bucket close enough to Lulu where she could comfortably step inside. Despite all their efforts and concern, they could not get Lulu down, and it was not until Lulu's sixth day in the tree that Margaret finally learned about me through a friend's comment on Facebook. Roy called me that evening, and I told him I would be there in the morning.

 When I arrived, I met Mary, and she led me down the long, winding drive to the house where I was greeted by Jackson, a large but friendly black dog. Behind the house were acres of pretty, lightly-wooded land, and Mary pointed me to Lulu in the distance perched far out on a limb. Since the tree had dropped all its leaves for the season, Lulu was fully exposed and easy to see, but because I did not remember to take a picture until after the rescue, she does not appear in the image above.

 Mary generously offered to drive me to the tree in an off-road vehicle so that we could avoid walking through a large muddy area. After packing my gear in the back, she drove us to the tree that was holding Lulu captive. I surveyed the tree and then began to install my rope. Since Lulu was far out on the limb away from where the rope installation process took place, she was not disturbed by it. Mary told me that Lulu was aloof and did not like to be held, but was otherwise very sweet with her.

I climbed up along the trunk to Lulu's limb, and she stayed out on her limb and cried out. For a brief moment, she became alarmed and walked farther out away from me. Fortunately, Mary talked to her from the ground and calmed her down, and Lulu quickly turned around and came back toward me. Lulu was ready to give me a chance, and she walked closer and closer to me. I held my hand out to her, and she eventually sniffed it and let me touch her. She even pressed her head into my hand and appeared relieved to have some hope at last. The poor dear had suffered through six long nights, a violent thunderstorm and freezing temperatures in this tree, and it was way past time for something good to happen.

 There were several small sprouts on the limb between us which seemed to inhibit her movement toward me. I did not want to break the larger ones out of the way and risk scaring her, and I knew she had managed to walk past them before, so I just waited. To my surprise, she took a precarious route around them by stepping out on a small limb and then stepping back on the main limb. She was now very close to me, and I petted her freely. It appeared that she might be interested in stepping onto my lap, so I gave her the time and opportunity to do that. After several seconds, I decided to bag her while I had a good chance. I grabbed her scruff and lifted her slightly while I pulled the bag over her. She did not complain or struggle one bit.

 I brought her down to Mary who was very happy and relieved that this ordeal was finally over. I think Mary suffered more than Lulu did and had reached the point of hopelessness, so this happy ending was especially welcome. She even decided to keep Lulu inside all the time from now on to prevent this from ever happening again. Mary took Lulu inside the house and released her there. Lulu was happy to fill her belly and then take a nap in her favorite chair which is when Mary took this picture.