We had a neighbor’s cat (Little Man) stuck up a tree for 2 to 3 days and we called an animal rescue service to get some assistance, but were told that there was nothing they could do. They said the Fire Department does not respond to cats anymore (I’m sure rescuing a cat in a tree with a ladder truck is more than urban legend) and we should put some food at the base of the tree for the cat to “eventually” come down. The owner of the cat started with this tactic when she found the cat was stuck in the tree and all the neighborhood cats were grateful for the snack while they watched a fellow feline’s fate unfold.
Once we were made aware of the cat’s predicament a couple of us tried to raise a ladder to climb up in the tree and get the cat, but this was a 60’ Fir tree with the bottom 1/3 barren of all branches. The next step is of course to lash two extension ladders together along with a 3rd to meet in the middle to take the form of an “A” with one protruding side. All we needed was someone to say, “Hey, watch this” and this would have been a pure Darwin moment. This solution was terrible at best with ladders coming apart, bending, bowing and to make matters worse, the cat retreating farther up the tree because of all the commotion below. We tore our tower of precarious ladders down and tried to find someone in the yellow pages under animal services, but it was after 5 pm on Sunday night so nobody was answering. My last contribution to the cause that night was inspired by the Steve Martin movie Roxanne; open a can of wet cat food at the base of the tree.
The next morning I tried a different approach. I called Asplundh’s main call center and explained the cat’s predicament and they transferred me to a regional office, then a manager who took all of my details and contact information. He then forwarded that information along to his field office to ask for a volunteer to come assist the kitty out of the tree. 10 minutes later I got a call from a nice man named John Ryan who had a free time slot, was nearby and was willing to help us out.
John threw a guide line up into the tree and then pulled his heavy rope up the path he laid. He threw his guild line up again and pulled his rope up and around a couple more branches to make a good secure hold on the tree. Up he went after Little Man and the closer he got to the cat the further up the tree the cat ran. I gave John a backpack to put the cat in and when he finally caught up with the cat in the last 6 feet of the tree he was able to successfully grab and secure the cat. We noticed John coming down the tree and called up to see if he got the cat and John responded, “How do they say…The cat is in the bag.”. J I never thought I would be relieved to hear that statement, but considering the height that the cat had retreated, any other outcome would have been dire.
After everyone was safely out of the tree we were able to reunite Little Man with his 2 year old owner and her mother.
Now I guess we know who to call if this happens again. ;)
From Asplundh to the rescue!
John Ryan works for Asplundh and is a sub-contractor for PGE and we would all like to thank him for his willingness to help us out when others offered no suggestions, dismissed us as overreacting or just didn’t bother returning a phone call.
Thanks again John!
~Matt
