The Tree Story

September 14th
12:00 am I am sitting on our deck as usual and enjoying the last warm days of the year.12:10 pm A neighbor’s dog shows up and starts chasing me. Before I know what is going on, I find myself on a tree. My humans were watching the whole incident totally paralyzed.
12:30 pm My humans call 911 and after a while someone from Animal Control shows up. She says “put a can of tuna under the tree and wait, she’ll come down in 24 hours”. Of course she’s not the one who’s sitting on this small branch. My humans are clearly concerned because they know it is going to be a rainy night and they are thinking about the wild animals, especially fisher cats (hate fisher cats, they always freak me out at night with their shrieks) Besides, I usually have no interest in food, so the tuna can idea does not apply to me.1:00 pm My humans call a few tree service companies in the area but apparently everybody is so busy in this season. The humans are trying to look calm when they talk to me but I can see that they are starting to panic.1:30 pm I see my female human’s car approaching, with a big fire truck behind it. The firefighters’ rescue attempt only sends me further up on the tree, to an even less comfortable branch.2:00-6:00pm Female human is keeping me compan. She’s desperately trying to convince me to climb down, but no way! It’s too high for such an attempt. 6:00 pm: It’s started raining. I can barely see the hopeless expression on my humans’ faces. Beside my humans, even a neighbor female human is worried about me. She shows up a couple of times and talks to me until midnight.

September 15th
6:00 am It’s been a very tough night; cold and damp. I feel exhausted. My female humand showed up looking tired and upset with a can of tuna. 7:00 am My humans come and talk with me for a while and drive off in their car. It looks like they have a plan! 8:00 am My humans come back with a long telescopic pole, a metal mug, some rope, a ladder, duct tape and a laundry basket. I think we are going to play a game! I don’t feel like it though, my muscles feel kind of funny. And I’m hungry. 8:00-11:00 am Various attempts trying to get a basket near me. My humans used a branch just below the one I’m sitting on as a pulley and were able to get the basket just a couple of feet below my level. I feel so scared that I cannot even move a muscle. They have got to get the basket closer to me! 11:30 am We are lucky. A constructor guy who’s working in the area offers a longer ladder, by which my male human is finally able to place the pulley on a branch above me. Now they can get the basket right to where I am. 11:45 am Once the basket is in position, my humans leave; just so that I can be alone for the final move. I pull up all my strength and courage, and finally roll myself into the basket. My muscles hurt a lot! Now it’s time to cry for help. “Come get me, I’m ready!” 11:50 am Upon hearing my cries, my humans run to the tree. They start lowering the basket down, slowly. I feel queasy a little, all the movement and spinning. Once I’m close to the ground, my male human covers the basket with a blanket. What do they think, like I am going to run away or something? I don’t have the energy to even cry anymore, are they kidding?12:00 pm After exactly 24 hours, I’m back home; safe and sound. I get out of the basket and start sniffing around. My hind legs are so sore that I cannot even walk or sit properly. I will have to take long naps to recover. Looking forward to it!