Pet Rescues
- Thread starter woodchux
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Here is the cat from the Italian Cypress, "Taco." The whole neighborhood came out to watch! Fun times. I was paid well for this one and my wife and I had a fine meal afterwards.
Here is the cat from the Italian Cypress, "Taco." The whole neighborhood came out to watch! Fun times. I was paid well for this one and my wife and I had a fine meal afterwards.
TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
Wow! I can tell the top was bending pretty good on that last pic. Seriously, did you just climb it like a ladder using alternate lanyard technique or did you actually get a throwline in that thing. Just seems like a "brittle" climb...
Alternating lanyard. Cat kept going higher up! I was at about the point where I did not want to climb any higher. The cypress trees were in a hedge row so it made it a little easier.
CalTreeEquip
ArboristSite Guru
Kamikaze
I use to do cat rescues all the time. Some of them most challenging. Only one or two wouldn't have made it down all on their own. One day I was called out to take a cat out of a redwood tree. This thing had been up there for 4 days, was an indoor cat with clipped claws and he was 40' off the ground. I went up, he climbed to the top, about 70'. Very freaked he was, got him in my lap once but he was panicking so I let him go. He climbed below me and out to the end of a limb looking like he wanted to jump. I franticly started cutting branches out of the way to get below him but to no avail. He leapt for the next tree catching a branch and hanging there for a minute before he dropped. 70' he fell hitting the ground hard. Shot down the hill for a bit till the owner got a hold of him. She took him to the vet who put him out of his misery. That was the last time I tried to rescue a cat in a compromised position like that. When I'd get calls I would tell them this story and say its not worth it, just wait for them to come down on their own, they will it just takes time.
I use to do cat rescues all the time. Some of them most challenging. Only one or two wouldn't have made it down all on their own. One day I was called out to take a cat out of a redwood tree. This thing had been up there for 4 days, was an indoor cat with clipped claws and he was 40' off the ground. I went up, he climbed to the top, about 70'. Very freaked he was, got him in my lap once but he was panicking so I let him go. He climbed below me and out to the end of a limb looking like he wanted to jump. I franticly started cutting branches out of the way to get below him but to no avail. He leapt for the next tree catching a branch and hanging there for a minute before he dropped. 70' he fell hitting the ground hard. Shot down the hill for a bit till the owner got a hold of him. She took him to the vet who put him out of his misery. That was the last time I tried to rescue a cat in a compromised position like that. When I'd get calls I would tell them this story and say its not worth it, just wait for them to come down on their own, they will it just takes time.
Grace Tree
Impossible Access
I post this every so often just to show that you do find dead cats in trees. Maybe not a skeleton but this guy was very dead and mighty stinky. Back legs stuck in a crotch that he couldn't back out of. We thought it was a big raccoon but it was a real big tom.
We fed him and the crotch through the chipper. Kind of a Viking cat funeral. Then I put a sticker on the chipper as a memorial.
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Meow,
Phil
TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
well, glad to know i'm not the only one that gets me feet stuck in crotches. and thankful that i've never had that bad of an end-result.
CalTreeEquip,
eye-opening story man. thanks for sharing. i'll definitely consider that the next time. have to make the pet owner sign a waiver if they insist, i suppose.
CalTreeEquip,
eye-opening story man. thanks for sharing. i'll definitely consider that the next time. have to make the pet owner sign a waiver if they insist, i suppose.
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Mikecutstrees
ArboristSite Guru
I have rescued about 6 cats. Dan Kraus has a site catinatreerescue.com if your interested in joining. Iv'e had one go kamikaze on me. It was fine, from about 30 feet up. I had to hook one with a polesaw hook, once after I took off the saw. I then pulled it in and sent it down. I use my 1/2" Sherrill rope bag, put the cat in tail first and cinch the bag closed. Once I rescued a cat, then a year later he did the same thing. The lady called again but I didn't get back to her until the end of the day. She had someone else try and they knocked the cat out and it died. Unfortunate..... the lady was crying on the phone. I sent her a card to say how sorry I was.
I'm always worried about getting scatched or bit by a cat without its shots. I usually ask the owner if it has all of its shots. I don't need to catch rabies for a $100 cat rescue. I rescued a stray cat once. I will not do that again.
Mike
I'm always worried about getting scatched or bit by a cat without its shots. I usually ask the owner if it has all of its shots. I don't need to catch rabies for a $100 cat rescue. I rescued a stray cat once. I will not do that again.
Mike
TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
Mike, great info on Dan's site and yes, very interested. Dan is the man. After CalTreeEquip's post I second-guessed whether it was even a good idea to continue the cat quest. Until my last rescue, when Nitro took his 45' dive into the river, I never thought they'd jump. Seeing is believing. The catinatreerescue.com "Info" page covers all possibilities and seems to have a remedy for each. The grab-bag is a great idea. Being able to identify a "jumper" and having a ground crew ready with a tarp seems like common sense, but for some reason I never thought of it. Hmmm...
Will
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TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
bet those chips composted nicely.:msp_biggrin:
CalTreeEquip
ArboristSite Guru
Thing about that cat, he was real skittish, that's why I let him go. My policy was to let them come to me. Climb up, get comfy, talk nice to it and let them climb right into my lap. I would usually start talking to them when I was next to the owner, have them talk as well. Used a pillow case in my lap, sometimes would have something with the owners scent on it, maybe some kibble. I figured they were already traumatized enough. Generally wouldn't even go up after them until they had been in the tree a couple of days, unless it was real hot anyway. Never thought he would jump for it like that.
Grace Tree
Impossible Access
We usually give the chips away to whoever wants to come in a pick them up but I had to dump these way down in the field because the smelled so bad. If dead cats can be a funny experience this was one of those. We were actually doing a free removal for a lady who's husband was having open heart surgery while we were doing the removal. He'd been worried about the tree and she thought it would be better for him if it was going. The cat was no more than 15 ft. from their upstairs bedroom window. I'm sure they must have smelled it but the septic system was real close so they must have thought that's where the odor came from. I had the job of picking up the crotch and the cat and running to the chipper to throw it in. Trouble was it smelled so bad I started gagging and dropped the cat. My partner picked it up and ran to the chipper but the crotch was too big and it keep bouncing against the feed wheels with the dead cat looking like he was doing some weird dance. My partner grabbed a chainsaw at which point a volunteer who was working with us started screaming NOOOOOOOOOOO at the top of his lungs. I guess he thought the cat was going to get the Texas Chainsaw treatment. Anyway, crotch got sawed and the cat got chipped and we never ever told the home owner about it. I see the guy who volunteered ever so often. I just say meow and he shakes his head. That was a good day of tree work.
Phil
TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
Phil,
Rolling on my truck floor laughing. Sad about the cat though.
Will
Rolling on my truck floor laughing. Sad about the cat though.
Will
Iustinian
ArboristSite Operative
We got a cat rescue call today -- made the local news Channel 13 at 10pm tonight. I'll post the vids and links later. We had a nasty snowstorm come through on Monday, about 9 inch accumulation, and the cat had been there since Monday, so about 4 days total. No problems getting her in the backpack -- she was ready to come down. The kids were pretty thrilled to have her back. I was a younger silver maple near powerlines, and she was in the very top, out on a 2" or smaller limb, leaving me with a pretty small TIP. They had called the fire department, animal rescue league, and critter control and no one could come out, so it was a nice thing we did today. Pretty awesome.
Iustinian
ArboristSite Operative
SAVING FROSTY: An Unusual Rescue | WHOTV.com
A Des Moines family was out of options Thursday after finding their beloved pet trapped out of their reach.
The Leach family’s cat, Frosty, went missing on Monday. Three days, and a snow storm later, they found her, trapped three stories up in their neighbor’s tree. The family tried to call for help, calling the Animal Rescue League, the Fire and Sherriff’s Departments, and Animal Control, but no one could help.
Then a friend suggested a tree service company. Though they’re not used to these types of calls, Andrew Harden came to Frosty’s rescue.
“Most of the time we’re being called out to remove or trim trees, diagnose them for pest problems,” said Andrew Harden, the owner of EmBark Tree Service, “It was just kind of fun to go up there and get her down safe, especially since the different places couldn’t help her.”
The Leach’s say Frosty has no injuries; she’s just a little skinnier than she was on Monday.
embarktreeservices.com
A Des Moines family was out of options Thursday after finding their beloved pet trapped out of their reach.
The Leach family’s cat, Frosty, went missing on Monday. Three days, and a snow storm later, they found her, trapped three stories up in their neighbor’s tree. The family tried to call for help, calling the Animal Rescue League, the Fire and Sherriff’s Departments, and Animal Control, but no one could help.
Then a friend suggested a tree service company. Though they’re not used to these types of calls, Andrew Harden came to Frosty’s rescue.
“Most of the time we’re being called out to remove or trim trees, diagnose them for pest problems,” said Andrew Harden, the owner of EmBark Tree Service, “It was just kind of fun to go up there and get her down safe, especially since the different places couldn’t help her.”
The Leach’s say Frosty has no injuries; she’s just a little skinnier than she was on Monday.
embarktreeservices.com
TreeLogic
ArboristSite Member
You da man, Andrew! Good vid. Looks cold!
offshoretreeze
ArboristSite Lurker
That's gotta feel great. Nice job!
Iustinian
ArboristSite Operative
thanks. It was pretty awesome. Was remarkable that she made it up there through a fairly bad snow storm which lasted for two days. She was definitely ready to come down
awesome! My wife loved watching this.
802climber
ArboristSite Operative
I tried advertising this service and came closer to getting scratched up by 1 frantic cat owner than I did by the cat which just came down when it was ready to. Although I have heard they don't like being "rescued."
