Simon's Fourth Rescue

Simon is only sixteen months old, and this is the fourth time I have rescued him in the past twelve months. He is an inside cat, but he often finds a way to slip out the door, and he has a magnetic attraction to trees. I don't know how many more rescues are in his future, but I suspect I will be seeing him in a tree again. I won't mind. I like Simon. He is always very friendly, cooperative, and docile, and this time was no exception.

Simon was in a bad spot this time. When I arrived, he was 50 feet high in the fork of a dead branch (red circle), and I was concerned about how I could safely reach him. I began to install my rope about 15 feet below him (yellow circle) where I was sure the tree was alive and planned to determine what I would do next after getting a closer look at the dead branch. While I was  working to install my rope, Simon came down 15 feet to that same fork, and that saved me a great deal of trouble and risk. I didn't see him do it. I just looked up to pull my rope over the fork and found Simon standing there, and I was quite happy about it.

When I climbed up to him, he was very happy to see me. After we got reacquainted, I pulled myself up a little higher where I could reach high enough to lift him out of the fork. He was totally trusting and docile as I lifted him out of the fork and placed him on my lap where I had already prepared the cat bag. He settled there knowing he would soon be back on the ground. I pulled the bag up around him to secure him inside and took him down. He was taken back inside his house, but while I was still there, he managed to escape again, and he came over to me to connect one last time before I left. I really like this cat.