Whiskers

I thought this could be an easy rescue. After all, the cat, Whiskers, was sitting in the first fork of the trunk and was only 15 feet high. I figured I could just climb up there, make friends with him, get him in my lap and come down. Whiskers looked friendly enough from the ground, but once I got up to him, he got scared, turned his back to me and started looking upward for an escape path. I calmed him down enough that he stayed in place, but he only tolerated my petting and attention and returned none of my friendly sentiments. Food didn't work either. Since I could not get him in my lap, and getting him in the carrier was not an option, I had to use the cat bag. But Whiskers is a thick-coated, long-hair, large orange tabby boy, and when I lifted him by the scruff, I could feel his thick, fluffy, slippery scruff slipping out of my grip quickly. I had to pull the bag over him very quickly, but he stuck a leg out and prevented the bag from going over him on one side, and I did not have enough time to fully bag him before losing my grip. I had to place him down on my lap, and by this time, Whiskers decided I was definitely not his friend and began to fight to escape. He leaped out of the bag and fell to the ground. He landed beautifully and immediately ran off to hide in a safe place, but he emerged a little later after that evil man was long gone. Whiskers is fine, but I sure do feel bad about losing him like that. I should have spent more time making friends with him, and then I may have had better options.

Editorial Note:
I have reached the point where it has become necessary to make a change to this blog. Editing video and pictures and writing the rescue stories require far more of my time than the actual rescue, and the frequency of rescues has reached the point that I can no longer keep up with those demands. While I still love to rescue cats in trees, I now find myself dreading the work that comes afterward. To ensure that I do not lose my love for rescuing cats and to acknowledge the limits of my time and will, I have decided to scale back the time I spend on the video, pictures and story. Consequently, videos will be fewer, and stories will be shorter. Depending on the nature of the rescue and the time I have available, some rescues may not be reported at all while others may get the usual full treatment. I hope that whatever value readers may find here is not lost, but, if it is, I hope you will give me your feedback by email (catrescueguy@gmail.com).