I always just thought it a joke, that you would call the fire department to rescue a cat from a tree. Who would have thought it to be true. Well, I found out most unfortunately that it is true. What a day that was. The first day of summer too! I found my little orange cat, Babe, high in the neighbors tree early that morning. He was crying pathetically. Like everyone else I figured that since he got up there, he would get down. I was soooo wrong.
Doesn’t he look all cute up there? That’s what I thought for the first few hours.
The ladder was wedged into the tree, but this is really up there, and I was very fearful going up that ladder. Others tried too!! Babe would not let go of the tree, and a few times he just went up even higher. Here is a picture for perspective. It was about 30 feet up.
No one, including me, was willing to go to the last ladder rung. We were all reaching up to get him, and it just wasn’t working. Tried food to lure him down, didn’t work. He was really scared. Most unfortunate, it was a very hot day, and Babe was without food, water, or sleep for going on 12 hours. I could tell he was getting weaker. Called the vet, who was on vacation, but his assistant told me sometimes cats can not get down from a tree. Tried the wildlife agency here, but everyone was away from their desks!! Must have been a busy day for wildlife. So did the last thing we thought to do, call the fire department!! Why not?
Afterall, they have that truck with the ladders, and they are very brave. They did come, and it was even the chief himself. He used the ladder we had up, and the fire chief was not afraid to go past the last ladder rung. In fact, he went up into the tree. I couldn’t even look, let alone take any pictures. Babe was wrapped in a towel, and slowly carried down.
I was able to get a shot of the truck after they drove away. My heroes!!
Babe fell fast asleep, purring loudly. He was very perky the next day, and seemed to be enjoying each of his nine lives. What an ordeal. A big Thank You to The Beloit Fire Department, a volunteer fire department.
Now I hope Babe has taken ‘climbing trees’ off of his list of things to do this summer.
I must end with a calming picture of flowers. Paper Butterfly and Web of Intrigue Happy Summer.
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Poor Babe! Happy to hear your gorgeous kitty is back on terra firma! We had a similar incident, but it was a stray cat, up a very high tree, in mid-winter. Overnight the winds howled and blew to make -30 weather – i could barely sleep thinking of that poor cat up there – in a squirrel’s nest. After a day or so, no one’s efforts did nay good, so the local humane society make the effort and wrangled him down, but he fought all the way – it was not a pretty sight. Very stressful for all. Oh – and I love your daylilies!!
I can just about imagine what you went through!! Babe is very happy to be back on ground, and he has stayed away from that tree!!