"Spooky" iS Stuck

Executive Summary

"Spooky" (young girl rescue kitty, black) picked a terrible tree to become stuck in for three days near Florence MS. It was a sickly vine-covered, wiggly sweet gum tree with small branches. Spooky was initially at 40 feet, but then climbed to 55 feet during rope setup. The vines kept thwarting my throw bag shots, and I finally had to settle for a tie-in at 40 feet. The rope was about one foot out from the trunk, and I could not get it closer because of the vines. The further away from the trunk, the more pressure exerted on the limb by the rope. It was not a large limb, and I was concerned about breakage especially with brittle sweet gums. I used a trunk back-up lanyard on the way up for safety. When I reached the tie-in point, I put a lanyard on two limbs above my tie-in, then removed the trunk backup. I was about to move my main rope next to the trunk, when the tie-in limb broke - I was caught by my safety lanyard. Other than being startled, all was well. I continued climbing and was able to rescue Spooky, who was exhausted by her ordeal which included raging thunderstorms. On the ground, Alison took charge of her and Spooky immediately headed for food/water dishes once inside. Alison and Billy Jack, many thanks for your generous donation to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society! (And thanks for helping to tote the gear to/from the tree!).