2014 Rescues


REscues

  • Snowflake (December 2014)
  • Luis (December 2014)
  • "Gracie" (November 2014)
  • "Lulu" (November 2014) - this is a short entry. Tara called me; her son's kitty "Lulu" had been stuck in a tree for three days near Meridian, MS. When I arrived at the tree, Lulu was clambering about on limbs that were only about 15 feet off the ground, mewing anxiously, hoping for a rescue. I installed a climbing rope, and was soon next to Lulu. After an introduction period, Lulu decided that I was an ok sorta guy and let me put her in the Kat Bag. She purred in the Kat Bag during the short ride to the ground, and then Tara and sons brought her to the house for some food and water.
  • "Marbles" (October 2014)
  • "Nancy" (October 2014)
  • "Miss X2" (October 2014) - this a short entry. I received a called from Ms. J, about a stray kitty who had been stuck in a tree for three days at a lower elementary school in Meridian Ms. I arranged to be there at 8:00 am the next day, as that was the first day of their fall break and no children would be present. When I arrived, I was led to an old pecan tree in the middle of the school playground, and I spotted "Miss X2" on a limb about 20 feet up, far away from the trunk. When I shot the throw bag over the limb, the kitty ran a bit closer to the main trunk. I got a ladder out, and climbed up to where I could talk to the kitty. It was a young tortise shell, about 6 months old, and I could tell that there was no way it was going to allow me to get close to her. I climbed down the ladder, and shot my throw bag again, trying to get closer to the kitty. This time she ran to the main trunk and settled in a small hollow at about 20 feet. Once again I shot my throw bag, and on this attempt it went over a limb well above her. I pulled my climbing rope up on the other side of the tree from the kitty. My plan was to climb stealthily above the kitty, and then come down from above, hopefully encouraging her to go down the trunk. I climbed my rope,and when I was well above the nook, I peeked around the trunk. No kitty was to be seen, she had disappeared. I looked over the tree very closely, and could not see her -- I imagine that she escaped down the trunk during my climb. While in the tree, I spotted a huge limb that had broken, fallen, and was hanging by a thread. It was an accident waiting to happen, so I knocked it to the ground to prevent it from possibly falling on a child later. In the end, the kitty was out of the tree and that is about all that one can hope for with a wild stray.
  • "George" and "Cutie" (September 2014)
  • "Cosmo" (August 2014)
  • "Edward" (June 2014)
  • "Tigger" (April 2014)
  • "Romeo" (April 2014) - this is a short entry. "Romeo" had been stuck overnight in a tree in Oxford, MS. When I arrived, he was about 25 feet up a hardwood tree, with fairly dense branches and dense undergrowth around the base. I shot my throwbag above Romeo, but it was hanging over a large limb plus several small limbs. When I tried to pull my throwbag up to get it away from the small limbs and better isolated over the large limb, it became hung in a small branch. Foolishly, I tried to jerk it down, and swaying small limbs spooked Romeo, and in his scramble to get away, he fell out of the tree. He ran off, but Miss R soon retrieved him from the underbrush. I was heartsick over scaring Romeo out of the tree, but he seemed ok. I apologized profusely to Miss R. and asked her to get him checked out by a vet. Later than night, Miss R texted me and said that Romeo had eaten and was taking a nap, and that a vet technician friend of hers examined Romeo and said that he was fine. So, luckily, Romeo did not suffer permanent damage, and I learned a valuable lesson from my mistake. In the end, Romeo made it to the ground, but not in the way that I intended. Update: I contacted Miss R about two weeks later to check on Romeo's status, and he was doing just fine, so no long term health affects from his fall.
  • "Sherbet" (March 2014)
  • "Otto" and "Kaya" (March 2014)
  • "Baby" (February 2014) - this is a short entry, as no tree climbing was needed. Mrs. M called me and said that 'Baby', a young tabby who was the companion for her elderly father, had been stuck in a tree for 3 days in Meridian MS. When I arrived, I found that Baby was only about 20 feet up in a small bushy tree that was close to the house. When I carried my equipment to the base of the tree, Baby become so excited that she ran out on a limb overhanging the roof, and then fell a short distance to the roof. A ladder, some cat food for enticement, and some sweet talking had Baby in the Kat bag in about 10 minutes. Total rescue time was 20 minutes.
  • "Lewy" (February 2014)
  • "Miss X" (January 2014)