"Robin" and "Tony" - hALP!

Josh from Cherokee/AL texted me - his six month old rescue kitty "Robin" had climbed a tree and had been stuck for two days, and needed help. When I arrived, Josh led me to the tree where Robin was hanging out at 20 feet.  She was crying loudly for help and it looked like it would be a trivial rescue.  I set the rope above her and started climbing.  I had only climbed about 10 feet when Robin spooked and jumped to a small, dead, neighboring pine tree - she went far out on a limb and settled there. I was happy as this meant she would not go higher in the tree that I was currently in, and I could block her path back to the trunk. I started to pull myself over, and Robin spooked again, this time looking to jump down. At this point she was only about 10 feet above the ground, so Josh told me to just knock her off the limb. Josh held a net under her while I gently prodded her with my extendable pole.  She hung on for a little while, then dropped to ground, missing the net, and ran under the house.  According to Josh, she reappeared after I left was soon catching up on food/water/loving.

A couple of weeks later, Dean texted me - his kitty had been stuck over night in a tree by his apartment and he needed help. When I arrived, Dean met me and led me to a river birch that had a large white cat hanging out on one of the leaders at about 30 feet. I put my rope on the main stem, and once I was at height with Tony, used my climbing hook to pull myself closer.  I initially tried to use my short catch pole on Tony since he was out of easy hand grab range, but this slipped off of him. I then manned up and muscled myself close enough for a nab.  I pulled Tony off the limb and into my lap. I then had to wrestle him into the bag once I got it opened up. Fortunately Tony was a chill kitty throughout this entire process.  Back on the ground, Dean took Tony inside for some long delayed food/water and relaxation.  Dean told me that Tony had belong to an elderly apartment resident who had passed away, and that he had started taking care of Tony.   Dean was moving to a new location shortly and Tony was coming with him - the kitty redistribution system had spoken!