"BATMAN" CAN'T CLIMB DOWN

Details

It was around 2:00 pm when I received a call from Delisha; her family's three month old kitten had gotten stuck way up a tree the night before near Tupelo MS and rain was coming, could I help? I checked the radar and decided that I could just beat the rain if I left immediately. I told Delisha that I was going to pack up and would be there in about an hour.

When I arrived, Delisha, her young son (Zach) and daughter (Emma) met me as I exited the truck. They led me to the back yard where I could see a small black kitty perched in a union at about 35 feet. He looked down at us and meowed piteously. His momma kitty was with us, and she meowed back at him, encouraging him to come down, but he stayed put. Delisha took the momma kitty into the house while Zach helped me install a rope about 15 feet above Batman's position. The tree was leaning towards us a bit, meaning that the rope was hanging away from the trunk. I would have to climb above Batman to a point where I could reach the leader, put a lanyard around it, and then come back down. I donned my gear and started up.

Batman watched me calmly as I climbed. He did not seem afraid of me at all. I sweet talked to him when I reached his height, but then climbed higher until I could reach the leader. I put a lanyard around it, pulled myself closer, and then dropped back down even with Batman. The lanyard pulled me close enough to the leader so that I could easily reach Batman. I pulled out some kitty treats and offered them, but Batman showed only polite interest. I put the treats away, then scruffed and bagged the Batman. He complained a little but did not struggle. I descended and handed Batman and bag off to Delisha, who headed inside followed by Emma and Zach. After I packed up, Delisha thanked me for the rescue and sent me a post rescue picture that she had taken of Batman. Delisha said he was enjoying being out of the tree! It started sprinkling during pack-up, and I drove through heavy rain on the way home, so Batman was rescued from the rain and storms just in time!