"Stray" Another Kitty Who Jumped

(mid January 2017)

Executive Summary

A stray kitty was stuck 25 feet up a tree for four days in Belden, MS. He was feral and became panicky if I tried to get closer than about 8 feet. I tried the rescue pole, but before I could tighten the loop he did a controlled jump, landed on soft ground with leaves, and took off. This is about the best we could hope for. Many thanks to Miss Dianna, Libby, and Mr. Sonny for your help on the ground. Update: Over the next week, I was called back twice for the kitty who was in a tree each time - once at the same house, and once at a neighbor down the street. Each time the kitty jumped. The last time, the kitty ran inside a garage utility room and I was able to capture it. I brought the kitty to the Tupelo-Lee Humane society and the neighbors were going to look for its owner.

Details

I received some late-night text messages from Dianna about an unknown kitty who had been stuck for four days in a tree in their yard. I arranged to be there mid-afternoon the next day. When I arrived, it was a steady light rain, but no lightning, so all was good for the rescue. Dianna showed me the kitty; he was only about 25 feet up out on a spar that broken off. By climbing the main trunk, I would be able to easily swing over to his limb and grab him if he would let me. During the setup, we were joined by Dianna's daughter Libby and a neighbor, Sonny. The kitty did not seem that skittish during setup, and he was meowing in a way that I thought he would be friendly. I put on my gear and started up. However, when I drew even with the kitty, he suddenly went into full-fear mode and showed every sign being about to jump. I asked Dianna and Sonny to hold a tarp, and Libby fetched my rescue pole from the back of the truck. She attached the rescue pole to my rope and I pulled it up. I was able to get the rescue loop around the kitty, but just when I was about to pull it tight, he did a controlled jump to the ground. I believe he purposefully jumped to miss that strange blue thing (the tarp) that was below him. He hit the soft ground/leaves on all fours, then took off. With a fearful feral kitty like this, it was about the most reasonable outcome.

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