Ollie and Mr Richard

I felt very incompetent when trying to rescue Ollie. His situation was a bit delicate, and I wasn't sure what to do with this boy. Ollie is a three-year-old brown tabby belonging to Allison and Joyce in Albany, Louisiana, and Ollie had been missing for a few days when they finally found him stuck in a tree in the woods about 800 feet from home. It's quite remarkable that they even found him in the woods so far away, but they were determined to find him and did not give up. If Ollie came down or fell down out of the tree, it was not clear if he would know how to find his way back home. In addition, I had seen some loose dogs in the area, so I wanted to be sure that I secured Ollie in some kind of container such as a bag, carrier or trap. This is not a case where it is acceptable for the cat to jump or fall out of the tree unsecured, so, to play it safe, I gave Joyce a net to use to try to catch him if that should happen.

My intention was to climb up there and get Ollie, but I was surprised at his extreme reaction to seeing me approach even from a long distance. He was terrified of me and began going farther out his limb long before most cats would. He was getting on the wispy tips of the limb where he could easily fall, and I was still very far from him. I backed off to prevent him from falling, and I decided that the only thing I could do in this case is set a trap on his limb. I went back down, retrieved the trap, climbed back up, installed the trap on his limb, went back down, and we all left the area to give him some quiet time to explore the trap. I waited 30 minutes and went back to check on him fully expecting him to be in the trap by then, but I was wrong. He was not any closer to the trap, so I reluctantly left and planned to return once they reported that he is in the trap.

As of nightfall, he was still not in the trap. Nor was he in the trap the following morning. This stubborn boy was making this much harder for both of us. I went back determined to get this boy down, but I still was not sure how I was going to make that happen. My climbing options were limited. I could not climb another tree where I could be in a position to scare him back along his limb toward the trap, so I climbed his tree and again gave Joyce a net to hold just in case. I removed the trap and began setting ropes that would allow me to go all the way out there where I could reach Ollie, but Ollie was just as determined to go out to the tips of the limb to keep a large distance between us. It wasn't long before the tiny limb tips gave way, and Ollie began to lose his footing. I yelled to Joyce below to be ready, and she was. Ollie fell right into the net Joyce was holding. Joyce was just as stunned as Ollie, but she recovered quickly and secured Ollie inside the net. I was ecstatic. This never happens because it's so hard to do. But Joyce did it. She said it was just a lucky catch, but good luck happens only when you set the stage for it, and she was there and ready. I greatly appreciate her patience and persistence in staying out there with me the entire time on both mornings. It is because of her that Ollie is safe at home now after spending five miserable nights in the tree.

After Ollie's rescue, I went straight over to nearby Ponchatoula to see if I could help with a three-year-old orange-and-white kitty named Mr. Richard who had been stuck in a neighbor's Sweetgum tree for one night. Kat, who is strongly bonded with Mr. Richard, was very worried about him and desperate to get him down. Fortunately, Mr. Richard is a sociable boy, and his rescue was quick and easy. He welcomed me in the tree, and after our introductions, I picked him up and bagged him for a quick ride back down to the ground. Kat was very relieved to have her sweet baby safe in her arms again, and she walked him home where he was soon napping with his sibling. I like a quick rescue, but the disadvantage is that I got very few pictures of Mr. Richard.