"Allie Grace" - Sweetness in a Tree

Details

It was about 9:00 am on a Tuesday morning when I noticed a voice mail on the Kat Fone. It was from Beth in Tupelo, her kitty had been stuck in a tree since Saturday, could I help? It was raining hard in Starkville and I checked the radar - the storms were heading north, but if I left immediately I might be able be the rain's arrival in Tupelo. I called Beth and told her that I would arrive in about an hour.

At Beth's house, I was met by Jim, her father, who was babysitting Beth's five month old daughter while she taught an exercise class. Jim led me to the back yard and pointed at a pine tree that was in a neighbor's yard separated by a high wooden fence. "Allie Grace" was at about 40 feet and crying loudly. She clearly wanted someone to fetch her. While I was trying to figure out how to access the tree, Beth drove up and said the neighbor was fine with me traipsing through their yard and climbing the tree. It was drizzling while I unloaded the truck, and this increased to steady light rain throughout the rescue. Fortunately, the heavy rain that I drove through on the way to Tupelo held off until after the rescue was finished.

During rope installation, Allie Grace came down to the lowest limb at 30 feet and then went as far out as she could. I thought that she might jump but she stayed perched in the tiny branches at the end of the limb. There were dense bushes below her, so if she fell or jumped she would be ok. I put on my gear and began climbing. When I was about five feet below her limb, Allie Grace became agitated and nearly fell. Beth was inside the house taking care of the little one, while Jim watched the rescue. I called to Jim, and asked for him to fetch Beth so that she could corral Allie Grace in case she fell or jumped. I continued climbing and was soon on the limb with Allie Grace. As I began putting on the Kat Bag, Allie Grace came back to trunk. I hurried my efforts with the Kat Bag, and this spooked her and she went back out again. Both Beth and I began sweet talking to her, and Allie Grace came back, a bit more cautiously this time. She sniffed the fingers on my left hand, decided I was a good guy, and arched her back for scritches. I petted her a bit, scruffed her, pulled her off the limb, transferred her to my Kat Bag hand, and bagged her. On the ground, I handed bag+Allie Grace to Beth who took her inside. After packing the equipment, Beth invited me inside and said that Allie Grace was already working on on her second can of wet cat food. It was a good thing that Allie Grace made the rescue easy, as the rains continued until the next morning.