Oct 11, 2007
Cat still has nine live
Redding rescuer scales oak to save fearful feline
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by MAGGIE CALDWELL
mcaldwell@thereddingpilot.com
Curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it sure got one big, orange tabby into a lot of trouble last weekend.
After what was likely an unsuccessful (and certainly ill-fated) squierrel hunt, Calvin the cat found himself stuck high in an oak tree on Little River Lane last Friday. It would take a daring and athletic act by one Redding resident to eventually bring the fearful feline to safety.
Jennifer Carello, owner of the property where the oak stands, heard Calvin’s cries on Friday night, but could not locate him.
“That tree is so high and it was so dark,” she said. “He definitely spent all night up there.”
The next morning, Ms. Carello saw Calvin clinging to the tree at the lowest crook, approximately 30 feet up.
“He was meowing loudly, every time someone would come out of the house,” she said.
Scrapping her morning plans, Ms. Carello got on the phone, calling all the public agencies she could think of that might come to Calvin’s rescue.
“I thought about all the children’s stories you hear. First thing you do is call the fire department,” she said.
She tried the routine lines of all three Redding fire departments, but no one answered. Then she called the non-emergency police number where the dispatcher told her it was uncommon that volunteer firefighters would come out to get a cat down from a tree.
After calling CL&P, the telephone company and various neighbors with ladders, and finding no success, Ms. Carello eventually reached her vet, who gave her the number of a man who frequently does animal rescues. The problem was, the man was in the Adirondacks for the long Columbus Day weekend, and wouldn’t be back until Tuesday. His wife informed Ms. Carello that her husband had rescued cats that had been stuck for two weeks up a tree.
“I was told to call back Tuesday if the cat was still up there,” said Ms. Carello.
After exhausting her resources, Ms. Carello turned to a neighbor, Michael LeBlanc, who owns climbing gear and tree spikes.
“I said, ‘Michael, I struck out. I don’t know what to do.’ He said if my husband, Bill, belayed him, he would be over with his gear,” Ms. Carello said.
Mr. LeBlanc, who owns his own company installing telephone systems, bought the tree spikes several years ago to use for landscaping work around his property. The spikes were traditionally used by old-time phone company workers to climb poles.
Strapping on the spikes and two harnesses, Mr. LeBlanc threw a rope over the high branch and had Mr. Carello belay him as he began a slow ascent up the tree. Digging the spikes into the thick tree bark, Mr. LeBlanc inched his way closer to Calvin.
After about 20 minutes of climbing, Mr. LeBlanc came face to face with Calvin.
“He was glad to see me, but not exactly ready to let go of the tree,” said Mr. LeBlanc.
While holding on to both the tree and a backpack, Mr. LeBlanc managed to grab Calvin by the scruff of his neck and zipper him into the bag. Then he lowered him gently down to Ms. Carello, who stood at the base of the tree with a group of neighborhood kids cheering Mr. LeBlanc on.
After rapelling to the ground, Mr. LeBlanc and Calvin had a chance to meet under less stressful conditions.
“He was actually pretty friendly. He let us pet him. We knew he wasn’t a wild cat,” he said.
Ms. Carello and her children took Calvin back into the house and fed him. Then she began calling around the neighborhood to try and locate his owner.
“I eventually called the people who live behind us, who own a farm. They said, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s Calvin. He’s one of our barn cats. Just let him outside and he’ll come home,’” Ms. Carello said.
After finishing his meal, Calvin walked off back down the hill to the farm.
When asked about the experience of strapping on cat-like claws of his own to rescue the distressed animal, Mr. LeBlanc said it was “really fun, but a little scary.”
“It’s hard work on your legs. I’m a rock climber from way back, before I had children… But today I’m still sore,” he said on Monday.
Ms. Carello commended her neighbor for his heroics.
“It was something very brave that he did,” she said. “I don’t think I would have ever done that.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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