"Stray Kitten"-- Up A tree in Trouble

Details

I was in the football stadium on the Mississippi State University campus, enjoying the MSU/TAMU football game with my family when felt the Kat Fone buzzing in my pocket. I waited until a relatively quiet moment and listened to a voice mail from "Cat" (short for Catherine). There was a stray kitten stuck in a tree a short distance away from campus, could I help? Cat and myself texted back and forth and I arranged to be there as soon after the game as traffic would allow.

After the game (MSU won, woot!), we headed home. I changed clothes, packed the truck, and texted Cat that I was on my way. When I arrived, there were about 10 college-age folks in the courtyard of an apartment celebrating the MSU victory. The kitten was stuck on a small limb in a smallish tree about 20 feet above their heads, and they welcomed me with relief when I said that I was there to rescue the kitty. About the same time, Cat and some more friends arrived as well. Everybody agreed to hold a tarp to catch the kitty in case it fell during the rescue attempt. I decided to try to use the rescue pole since the kitty's limb was not climbable. I entered the tree, and was soon near enough to try with the rescue pole. As I raised the pole, the kitty spooked further up the limb, out of reach. I climbed one union higher, and tried again. The kitty was barely hanging on as I raised the pole, and when the kitten tried to evade again it fell to a lower limb. I decided to simply shake the kitten off this limb since it was only a short drop to the tarp. I knocked the kitten's new limb with my pole, and the kitten fell into the tarp. The helpers quickly enclosed the tarp around the kitten, and everybody cheered the kitten's safe rescue. Cat took the kitten and the tarp across the street into a house where the kitten could be extracted without chance of another escape. After packing the truck, I went across the street was was able to take the post-rescue picture shown below of Cat and the kitten. Cat later took the kitten home with her for some food, water, and rest.