Place - the BIIIIG tree directly in front of the house
The predicament - look closely at the centre top of the photo
that is the younger grandkitten, Suki, precariously perched - and extremely unhappy about it - almost 20 feet up a gumtree
Point the first: only Nadie and I were home at the time.
Point the second: my ladder is only 10 feet long ... and that's measuring total length to the top step upon which no sane person would stand.
Point the third: I am not good with rickety ladders.
While I went to the shed and lugged down the sturdier of the ladders, Nadie managed to entice Suki down about a foot, but have any of you ever tried to get a feisty feline to come headfirst down a sloping branch when she's 16 -18 feet off the ground and terrified ?
Did I perhaps mention that ladders and I are not friends ?
Anyway, I inched my way to the second top step, wrapped one arm around the trunk [ all the while telling the Man Upstairs that I would take it kindly if there were no Wolf Spiders lurking in the immediate vicinity ] then stretched as far as I could in any kind of safety and discovered that I was about two inches too short.
Deeeeep breath
Cautious realignment of my stranglehold on the trunk
and ...
managed to get a couple of fingers around Suki's fore-paw ... which she promptly and firmly dug even deeper into the bark that she was hanging onto like Grim Death.
After readjusting my own death grip on the tree, and several failed attempts, I caught hold of her paw again [ and remember that at this point I was balanced on the top of a ladder at full stretch, holding an overweight chat by ONE FLAMING FOOT.
I suppressed the momentary vision of myself scratched to ribbons, heaved and ended up wearing a Suki collar.
Poor baby was so stressed, she didn't even manage a decent hiss, let alone any claw work on my quivering carcass.
Result:
Suki, Nadie and I have all survived her little expedition [ even if my knees did go all wibbly wobbly once I was back on terra firma ! ]
7 comments:
You are braver than I........I suspect I might have tried a light hosing above her head. Water can be a great tempter to seek terra firma
Poor baby and poor Grandma
I was so relieved to read the happy ending ...... well done !!
This is going to be a rather eventful year, what with The Great Pantry Tidy of '11 and The Great Muckleford Cat Rescue of 2011 ... much like The Great Flood, and The Great Rains, etc., in Vicar of Dibley. Something for you to look back upon in future years!
Sorry Susan, I can't help it, I was crying with laughter at your description of the action!
Perhaps you'll need to put some possum collars on your big trees - as seen in Melbourne's public gardens - to discourage any more feline adventuring.
PS ~ My verification word is perre!
PPS ~ How did you enjoy 'Viva Verdi'?
Phew! I held my breat until the end, hoping there were no misshaps. That tree collar sounds like a great idea. :) Maybe investing in a pool net (long handle) might be useful. You could scoop her out of the tree. lol
We had a cat who never learned not to climb trees. We'd rescue him if he was up a tree close to home (where we could find him by following the sound of piteous meows) but suspect he trapped himself a few times far from home. (He'd be gone for days, then suddenly turn up pounds thinner and embarassed-looking...)
My favorite was the time I heard him wailing from the woods behind the house. I fought my way up the hill, through brambles and underbrush, and finally found him perched on a fallen tree trunk, about 6 feet off the ground, crying his little heart out. "Dude, you are getting yourself out of this one," I said, as I turned back to the house.
Whewwwwww! And also yikes!
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