"Junie" The Jumper

Details

It was Sunday afternoon when I noticed a voice mail on the Kat Fone. It was from Kelly, and their family kitty was stuck in a tree. I called back and arranged to be there later that afternoon. When I arrived, I was met by Kelly and her husband, Brian, who led me to a sweet gum tree across the street. "Junie" was about 25 feet up, and hanging out on a large limb. Brian told me that Junie was his special kitty, and that he had adopted her when she wandered up to their house a few months back looking for food. Junie was a tabby and about 1 year old. The tree had several good limbs above Junie, and I soon had a climbing line installed. Junie was a bit spooked by the rope installation and retreated further out on her limb. I slowly began climbing, sweet talking and offering her dry treats. She was not convinced and retreated even further out on the limb. When I reached her perch, I tried a wet cat foot offering but this was rejected as well. Her limb took a 90-degree angle vertically, and I was concerned that she may go up the vertical part and make the rescue very difficult. Junie was not that far away from me, and I decided to try a quick grab for her. I needed to cut a limb that was in the way first, so I pulled out my handsaw and began cutting. After cutting through the limb I began moving the limb backwards but this spooked Junie and she jumped to the ground, where she quickly ran under a car at the neighbor's house. Brian went to coax her out as I descended. After packing up, I went across the street to talk with Kelly who gave me a large bundle of red potatoes, yummy! About this time Brian came back with a nervous Junie cradled in his arms. Brian quickly took her inside for food and water. The post rescue picture below (courtesy of Kelly) shows Junie cuddling with Brian. There is no video as leaves blocked the view of Junie for the entire rescue.