Gray Cat and the Pecan Tree

"A cat can climb down from a tree without the assistance of the fire department or any other agency. The proof is that no one has ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree." Anonymous

One afternoon I heard a kitten crying outside. Sure enough Gray Cat had climbed the tallest pecan tree in the front yard. As I called to him to come down, he only climbed higher. And higher. And higher. He ran out of tree to climb and was hanging there and crying and crying. My neighbors, all being cat people and concerned, offered suggestions on how to get Gray Cat out of the tree. The sun was setting so I knew I had to do something because my heart wouldn't let that poor little kitten spend the night in the tree. And he certainly had no intention of climbing down. Daisy was no help --- I tried to coax her into chirping for her boy kitten to work his furry butt back down the tree.

I called a friend of mine who is a volunteer member of the fire department. I explained the situation and that I needed a really tall ladder to reach the top of the tree. He laughed and said he'd be there shortly. I made the mistake of asking him to be quiet about coming to rescue the kitten. Five minutes later I could hear a fire truck with the siren blaring heading our direction. Oh, crap. And if that wasn't enough to draw attention, the red and blue strobe lights were flashing. My friend had picked up another volunteer and they were decked out in bunker gear. And then Sam showed up. He shook his head and suggested a .22 caliber gun as his solution.

The JVFD rescued Gray Cat after battling 20 branches to get to his location. And I haven't lived it down yet that I called the fire department to rescue a kitten out of a tree. That was about four years ago. Gray Cat didn't climb trees after that experience. Until this morning. I heard a THUMP on the porch roof and there he was. He had climbed a tree close to the house and jumped onto the roof. I just shook my head and told him he was on his own in getting back to terra firma. Thirty minutes later he was meowing at the back door. Guess my baby boy kitty has overcome his phobia of climbing trees.

And now he is trying to catch a hummingbird....good luck with that!

"The reason cats climb is so they can look down on almost every other animal. It's also the reason they hate birds." K.C. Buffington