Sky

As I turned onto the short, rural, dead-end road near Prairieville, Louisiana, I immediately saw Austin standing there to the side looking up into a nearby tree. As promised, he was waiting there for me to arrive so he could show me where the kitten was stuck in a tree. The property was overgrown, and there was an old, handmade "No Dumping" sign nearby suggesting that this has been regarded as an attractive dumping site in the past. Some old paved areas on the ground revealed signs that a house was once here long ago, but they were all so covered with vegetation now that a casual passer-by would not notice any sign of such history here. The tree where the kitten was resting was in an advanced state of decline. What was once a tall, vase-shaped tree now had only two remaining stems leaning off-balance to one side. While there was still some life in those two stems, they did not appear healthy or well supported, and what remained of the rest of the tree was clearly dead. The upper stem had a gentle S shape to it, and the kitten came to rest in the middle where it was most level at a height of about 35 feet.

In the absence of an eye-witness, I am very reluctant to believe people when they tell me that a cat was dumped at their site, but this was a time when that certainly appears to be the case. There on the side of the road, Austin had found a broken tote box from which six kittens, all apparent littermates about twelve weeks old, spilled out of the box. Austin easily caught five of them, but one scampered quickly to the tree and climbed it for safety before Austin could catch it. Austin's sister-in-law, Alex, is taking care of the five kittens, but they needed help getting the sixth kitten down from the tree, so they contacted me.

At first, I did not see a way to get the kitten down from this tree. I did not trust this tree to hold my weight, but I saw one spot farther down the stem from the kitten where it might support me safely. If I climb up to that spot and the kitten can be coaxed into coming to me, then we have a chance at a safe rescue. I installed my rope there, tested it with twice my weight, and found it secure enough to trust. I could climb up to that point, but I would not be able to go any farther out the stem toward the kitten without risking failure of the entire stem. I needed the kitten to come to me, but when I climbed up to her, she was clearly frightened and uncomfortable with me and refused to come any closer to me.

I went back down to the ground to retrieve my catch-pole, and I also hoped that, like many cats, she would be more receptive to me once she sees me go away and return. While I was on the ground, however, she actually made matters worse by moving farther up the stem away from me. I wasn't sure she was even still in range of my catch-pole, but I climbed back up there to see. Fortunately, with my catch-pole fully extended, I could reach her. She now had her back to me and was on her belly clinging to the stem, so it was more difficult to work the noose under both legs on opposite sides of the stem. As I got the noose under one leg, she began to move farther away from me, and if she succeeded in going any farther away, I would not have any way left to rescue her. I had to stop her, so I tightened the noose even though it contained only one leg and the opposite shoulder. This is risky because it is much easier for the kitten to slip out of the noose, but I felt like I had no choice. I lifted her off the stem and brought her to me and placed her inside the net I had waiting by my side. I released her in the net and secured her inside. I felt so lucky to get away with it, but I also was emboldened knowing that Austin was down below holding some netting to catch her if she fell.

I brought the kitten safely back down to the ground, and Austin walked her back to his house where he released her in a safe place and took this picture. She was still scared at this point, but she felt much better when she was reunited with her siblings shortly afterward. They were all taken to Cara's House, the area shelter, where they will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and given excellent care until they are ready for adoption. Austin told me that he plans to adopt the tree kitten for himself, and he has even already named her Sky. I appreciate all that Austin did to assist me in this rescue. He was there the entire time and always ready and willing to do whatever was needed. I could tell he cared deeply for this kitten, and I know he will give her a good home.