I had two rescues to do this afternoon: one 45 minutes north of town and the other one 30 minutes south of town. The kitty north of town needed to be done first because she had been stuck in the tree for five days while the other cat had been stuck only two days. I was hoping that the first rescue would be fairly quick and easy so that I would have enough daylight and energy to do the second one.
The first rescue was for Titty the kitty in a rural area near Ethel, Louisiana. Titty was 40 feet high in a large Pine tree in a wooded area, and her brown tabby coat blended in so well with the color of the bark of the tree that I had a very difficult time seeing her even after I knew precisely where she was. Titty is an inside cat, but she does get short, supervised visits just outside the door on occasion, and it was on one of these occasions that something unknown suddenly motivated her to run out to this Pine tree and climb it. Anna did her best to get her down or find someone who could, but she did not find me until Titty's fifth day in the tree.
Titty is a sweet girl who probably would have made friends with me easily on a normal day and place, but in a tree, she felt vulnerable and did not trust this strange man coming up to her. I had already spent close to an hour just installing my rope because the undergrowth surrounding the tree made it very challenging, and I did not need for Titty to make this rescue take any longer. I did my best to woo her and charm her, but Titty was not impressed. She perched well out of reach on a limb facing me and just meowed at me occasionally as if to say, "You're wasting your time, Buster." But I am patient man, and I thought I could eventually win her over, so I did exactly what she said and wasted more time.
When the reality finally managed to soak through my thick skull, I went back down to the ground to retrieve my rescue pole and net. I climbed back up to her and went out her limb as far as I could. I tried once again to make friends with her, but she remained firmly against it. I prepared the rescue pole and got myself positioned properly for it, but, first, I wanted to use the pole just to nudge her back side to see if that would get her to come closer to me. Indeed, that is exactly what happened. She did not like that pole, and, to get away from it, she had no choice but to come closer to me. I reached my hand down to her, and she let me brush her cheek with my finger. I petted her while she remained there in place, and I thought this was all going to work out just fine. But Titty was not warming up to me. Nope. Instead, she was just tolerating my petting while plotting to make a run past me. While that thought did enter my mind, I was not very worried about it happening, because my two legs were blocking her escape path down the limb toward the trunk. But Titty is a cat, and cats can do impossible things. In a quiet flash, she somehow slinked past my legs and was headed away from me. I had to act fast to stop her, so I quickly reached down and grabbed her by the scruff. At the same time, I lost my footing on the limb and began to swing back toward the trunk of the tree. I was securely attached by three ropes and in no risk of falling, but I was swinging and hanging by the ropes while Titty was hanging by the scruff. I quickly switched her over to the other hand which, fortunately, already had the cat bag on it. But the bag got twisted in the commotion, and I had some trouble getting it over her cleanly. By this time, Titty began to complain about my rough handling, and she tried to escape from the bag. Fortunately, I was able to keep her contained, but it surely wasn't a pretty rescue.
I brought her down and gave her to Anna who had been anxiously and patiently waiting for her. Anna took her inside and released her, and Titty reconnected with her canine brother, Burreaux and began readjusting to the welcome luxuries of home. Her five days in the tree were over, and she and Anna were both happy about that.
By the time I packed up, it was 4:30, and I still had another rescue to do on the opposite side of town. I wanted to get there to at least start the rescue before dark, but traffic made that impossible. I did not get there until 6:00, and it was now too dark to see clearly. Somehow, I could not find my flashlights in the truck, but the neighbors all came through and provided their own to help. Because of the darkness, I did not take any video or pictures.
This kitty was an unknown calico. She just appeared in the tree and had been there crying loudly and often for two days. She was about 30 feet high when I arrived, but I was told that she had been higher earlier. When I shot my line into the tree above her, she got scared and began to climb down about 10 feet and stopped there. I installed my rope and began to climb up to her. From the way she was crying, I thought she would be ready to jump into my lap, but I was wrong. She was too scared to have anything to do with me. She let me pet her but only because she had no place to go. My touch did not console or reassure her at all. Before she found the courage to climb higher or jump down, I grabbed her by the scruff and bagged her.
I brought her down and scanned her for a microchip but did not find one. John put her in a cage temporarily and took her to Cara's House, the local shelter, in the morning. Hopefully, her owner, if there is one, will find her there. If not, I know the good people of Cara's House will take good care of her.
