"V" - Inside Stuck Outside

Details

I was driving to the "Jessie" rescue when I noticed a voice mail on the Kat Fone. It was from Shelby, her adult daughter's cat ("V") had been stuck for three days in a tree in Sumrall MS, could I help? She had been referred to me by the Hub City humane society. I called Shelby back and arranged to be there the next morning. Shelby told me that her husband, Jonathan, had tried a free climbing rescue earlier but that V had hissed at him and had retreated further up the tree. I was hoping that V would be friendlier to me.

When I pulled up at the house, Chelsea (V's person), met me and thanked me for coming out. She led me to the back yard where V was hanging out at about 30 feet. About that time, Shelby joined us and again thanked me for driving down. The white oak had many good tie-in points. I decided to climb a stem that was different from V's stem, so as to avoid spooking her. I also wanted to climb above her and then come down to her stem so that her escape route further up the stem would be cut off. After a couple of throw bag misses, I finally hit my target union and established a rope. I ascended above V's position, transitioned to the same side of the stem as 'V', and then put a lanyard on V's stem above her position. Through all of this V remained calm. A cold front with rain had come through the previous night and I believe she was ready to be out of the tree. As I attempted to pull myself over to V's stem, I notice that my lanyard was twisted up. This prevented me from getting close enough to V for a safe grab. I backed off, untwisted my lanyard, and re-positioned myself so that my Kat Bag hand would be closest to V. I pulled myself back over, where V allowed me to pet her, and then scruff her with no fuss. As I was coming down, Jonathan drove up in a tractor. I handed V over to Shelby and she was taken inside for food/water. The post rescue picture (courtesy of Shelby) shows V relaxing after her rescue. Shelby thanked me again before I left and gave a very generous donation to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. I was more than happy to help. As an aside, both Shelby and Jonathan are retired military (Navy, Army) and I thank them for their many years of sacrifice for our country.