"Samson" - An Overnight Stay

Details

It was a Monday evening when I received a voice mail on the Kat Fone from Sandy. Her kitty, "Samson", was stuck in a tree near Collinsville MS, could I help? I called back, and talked with Bruce, Sandy's husband. Sandy was with the volunteer department at the tree, and would contact me if Samson was still stuck after the rescue attempt. I learned later that night from Sandy that when the firemen put a ladder next to the tree that this scared Samson, and he went higher in the tree, out of reach. I told Sandy that I had a business meeting in Tupelo the next morning, but would be out to rescue Samson in the afternoon.

When I arrived, Sandy greeted me, and we drove over to a neighbor's house where Samson was stuck (they were very gracious and allowed me to climb the tree). Samson was hanging out at about 40 feet in a small hardwood, crying for help. I spotted a nice union at about 30 feet and soon had a rope installed. During setup, we were joined by Bruce and their adult daughter Sarah. Bruce and Sandy stood by ready with a tarp as I climbed up. Samson was intrigued by me and came down to about five feet above my tie-in, but was unable to descend any further. When I reached the tie-in point, I decided to put a secondary lanyard a little higher so that I could unhook from the main rope and stand in thetie-in point. During this time, Samson kept trying to figure out a way to reach me and almost fell when he tried an ill-advised route. I kept sweet talking to him, trying to keep his focus on me and not on trying to climb down any further. Once the secondary lanyard was installed, I pulled myself up and stood in the tie-in union. I was now even with Samson and he eagerly accepted my scritches. Samson hissed and yowled a bit when I scruffed him but did not actively struggle and I was able to stuff him in the Kat bag. Back on the ground, Sandy took Samson off for food and water. Sandy told me that she found Samson when he was two weeks old - he dropped out of a car engine from the car in front of her at a stop light. She stopped, and picked up the oily/dirty kitty that was gasping in the 95 degree heat. She rushed him to a Vet, who cleaned him up and said that he would be ok, but would need to be bottle fed. Sandy bought supplies and nursed him until he was able to eat solid food. Needless to say, Sandy was very attached to Samson and was grateful for the rescue. Samson is an inside/outside kitty and Sandy does not know why he went up the tree, which happened during the day. Hopefully, Samson will stay out of trees in the future!