"Jackson', 'Cleo' - Stuck Kitties Who Needed Help

(early April 2016)

Executive Summary

"Jackson" ( 2 days, 30 ft, hardwood, Jackson MS), and "Cleo" (2 days, 40 ft, oak tree, Oxford MS) are some kitties rescued at the end of March, beginning of April.

Details (Jackson)

It was late afternoon, and I was thinking about heading home when the Kat Fone yowled. It was Caroline from Jackson MS; there was a young kitty stuck up a tree in her yard that had been there for two days, and she wondered if I could help. I said that I could, and arranged to be there at 8:00 am the next day. When I arrived, she led me to the tree and I spotted the kitty about 25 feet up, way out on a small limb. Caroline said she did not know who owned the kitty, and it appeared skittish (I will call this kitty 'Jackson' from now on). I figured that rescue pole drama would probably be required, so I instructed Caroline on how to hold the net and release the kitty from the rescue pole when I lowered it. I installed a climbing line and was soon at height with Jackson. I tried coaxing him with food, but he refused to budge. During this time, Cade, a roomie, also came out to help. I pulled up the rescue pole, and started trying for a grab. I was finally able to get the hoop around Jackson's middle and pulled him off the limb. He was very light weight, so it was easy to manuever him around and then lower him to a waiting Caroline and Cade. They soon had him free of the rescue pole and brought him inside to a screen porch area for some food and water. The picture to the left of Jackson is from Caroline; it shows a distrustful Jackson wondering what is going to happen to him next. Caroline asked around the neighborhood, and it turned out that he belonged to a neighbor, so all ended happily! There is no video for this rescue due to pilot error by yours truly.

Details (Cleo)

I had just finished class for the day, when I noticed a voice mail on the Kat Fone. It was from Janice, her kitty, Cleo, had been stuck for two days in a tree in Oxford MS and the fire department had given her my name. I called Janice back, and arranged to be there around 5:30 pm that day. When I arrived, I met both Janice and her husband Brad, and they led me to the dastardly tree that had captured Cleo. At first I could not spot him, but I finally saw a pitiful furball near the top at 40 feet. The tree was extremely twiggy (as in, lots-o-little branches), and there was no way to get a climbing line near Cleo's perch. I finally settled for a limb at about 25 feet. I installed a climbing line and was soon at my target limb. I then used two lanyards to climb the rest of the way to Cleo. He was in a fairly tight union, and could not move very much. Cleo accepted some pre-nab scritches and caresses with gratefulness, so the actual grab and bag went very smoothly. We were soon on the ground where I handed Cleo off to Janice for some food, water and loving.