Stripers had been in a tree for 9 days
giving a group of concerned neighbors much more than a week’s worth of
anxiety. When they called me on day 8
they didn’t yet know Stripers’ name or who he belonged to. Stripers meowed warily as I came closer to him. As I got within grabbing distance, he moved
out to the end of the branch where I couldn't safely go.
When I couldn’t lure him from the end of the branch, I decided to cut the branch Stripers was on in the hope that I could pull him back to me. As I did so Stripers slid from the cut branch to a horizontal limb below and then proceeded out to the edge of the canopy again. Eventually I used a large fishing net to nab Stripers much to the relief and delight of the neighbors below.
We released Stripers into a waiting dog crate stocked with tuna and fresh water. He was not happy to be inside the crate, but was very happy to have something to eat and drink after 9 days of a diet consisting only of rain water.
Despite the hugs, handshakes and high-fives, the best part of the story was yet to come. A day and a half later as two of the neighbors were posting “found kitty” flyers on telephone poles in their neighborhood, they made contact with someone who knew of a family who had lost a cat recently. One thing led to another and within a few minutes a very happy lady was reunited with her family cat (see pic to the right), who, she informed the neighbors, is named Stripers.
