Canopy Cats
October 31, 2013 3:08 PM Subscribe
If they are anything like my cat, replace the word tree with outside. Oh shit, I'm outside! OH SHIT, I'M OUTSIDE. HALP.
posted by littlesq at 3:15 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by littlesq at 3:15 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
This cat's face doesn't seem soiled. I simply can't imagine why it's named that.
posted by gingerest at 3:29 PM on October 31, 2013
posted by gingerest at 3:29 PM on October 31, 2013
I'm very respectful of the talents of anybody who can face down cats who are that angry and still has a face to do it with.
posted by Sequence at 3:35 PM on October 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 3:35 PM on October 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Fencing mask and foundry gloves, I should think.
posted by walrus at 3:48 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by walrus at 3:48 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
The fencing mask should make retrieval easy; the cat just clings to the mesh of the mask with all four paws, and then you just climb down.
posted by happyroach at 3:52 PM on October 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 3:52 PM on October 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
Cat watches certified arborist come closer and thinks "now there's a social climber"
posted by Namlit at 4:23 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Namlit at 4:23 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
My childhood cat rarely got up in trees (one time we knew it was to escape a dog chasing him), but the stupid neighbor cat got stuck in a tree on the property line multiple times. My mother would make my step-father take the ladder and work gloves out and get the cat down. He’d always say “It’ll come down eventually – you never see cat skeletons in trees, do you?”
posted by D.C. at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by D.C. at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
Some of them look downright serene, like they are up there relaxing and taking in the view but that Siamese, man I'm actually worried for the tree in that case.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:41 PM on October 31, 2013
posted by Ad hominem at 4:41 PM on October 31, 2013
Being the Crazy Cat Lady, I'm like, "Holy jeez! Don't take pictures! Just get them down already!!"
Except that one cat. That cat is pissed.
posted by Kitteh at 4:48 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Except that one cat. That cat is pissed.
posted by Kitteh at 4:48 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh, poor babies. I'm glad there's a service in to rescue them, if only in Washington.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:21 PM on October 31, 2013
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:21 PM on October 31, 2013
There are more services than only Washington, just look here.
posted by Red Loop at 6:01 PM on October 31, 2013
posted by Red Loop at 6:01 PM on October 31, 2013
You never seem to see a cat skeleton in a tree.
posted by Repack Rider at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Repack Rider at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
A decade or so ago, when our cat FruitBat (it's what she looked like as a kitten) was just a year or so old, she'd frequently get stuck in trees when left out overnight. One morning when it was raining heavily, I heard the faintest of mews from outside; yup, there she was, higher in a tree than I'd ever seen her before, and waaaaaaaaay higher than I could possibly climb.
After a period of trying to coax her down, I finally got so agitated myself that I started getting creative. I had some 2x2s laying around from a project, so I nailed a couple together to make a 20 foot pole, used some bungee cords to attach a laundry basket to one end, and then climbed a ladder about 20 feet into the tree. I raised that pole up to the limit of my reach, knowing in the back of my head that there was no way that a cat who wasn't smart enough to climb down was going to get into a laundry basket hanging in mid-air.
Shockingly however, it only took her about 15 seconds to work up the courage to get in the basket. As I was lowering her down, I think I was more scared than she was.
Anyway, that's the last time she ever climbed a tree. Silly cat.
posted by Ickster at 6:23 PM on October 31, 2013 [10 favorites]
After a period of trying to coax her down, I finally got so agitated myself that I started getting creative. I had some 2x2s laying around from a project, so I nailed a couple together to make a 20 foot pole, used some bungee cords to attach a laundry basket to one end, and then climbed a ladder about 20 feet into the tree. I raised that pole up to the limit of my reach, knowing in the back of my head that there was no way that a cat who wasn't smart enough to climb down was going to get into a laundry basket hanging in mid-air.
Shockingly however, it only took her about 15 seconds to work up the courage to get in the basket. As I was lowering her down, I think I was more scared than she was.
Anyway, that's the last time she ever climbed a tree. Silly cat.
posted by Ickster at 6:23 PM on October 31, 2013 [10 favorites]
I once saw the FDNY block off an entire block, set up their truck with the bucket, and lift a firefighter into a tree to get a cockatoo.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:46 PM on October 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Ad hominem at 7:46 PM on October 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
It's good practice with the ladder and the street cones.
And it prevents a stupid cat from getting itself stuck up there.
posted by notyou at 8:00 PM on October 31, 2013
And it prevents a stupid cat from getting itself stuck up there.
posted by notyou at 8:00 PM on October 31, 2013
See neighbor's cat meowing piteously from tree. Open can of tuna. Place under tree. Watch from window and see cat climb down tree and eat tuna. Go outside to get cat. Watch cat zip up tree. Lose all sympathy.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:11 PM on October 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by BlueHorse at 8:11 PM on October 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
I like to think they were driving by and thought "that cockatoo is worth like 3k, lets stop and grab it" only to end up with a firehouse cockatoo.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:24 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ad hominem at 8:24 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I saw a Harlem tower ladder assigned to a cat rescue use the Partner saw to cut out pieces of a metal fence so they could set-up, raise the bucket and make the grab.
Nothing beats the cop who climbed a tree to rescue a cat then had to be rescued himself, though. That is the kind of thing you never live down.
posted by mlis at 8:35 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
Nothing beats the cop who climbed a tree to rescue a cat then had to be rescued himself, though. That is the kind of thing you never live down.
posted by mlis at 8:35 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
Six weeks after first getting my cat I had came back from holiday - a cat sitter had been feeding her - and discovered my cat was on the roof of my house. Furthermore, because the house was terraced, the cat could wander up and down the street on the roofs of my neighbours. She sat there bellowing and generally looking stuck. I knew my ladder wouldn't reach and most people didn't have space for a long extension ladder, and was not looking forward to asking the fire brigade to come and help me.
In desperation I opened up an upstairs window and called her. That is when I discovered that my cat could get up and down from the roof at will via an extension at the back of the house.
So now, from time to time, my neighbours are treated to the spectacle of me coming home from work and having an animated conversation with my cat the length of the street in which she walks along and berates me loudly for not getting home earlier to feed her and I order her to come down RIGHT NOW off other people's roofs.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:11 AM on November 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
In desperation I opened up an upstairs window and called her. That is when I discovered that my cat could get up and down from the roof at will via an extension at the back of the house.
So now, from time to time, my neighbours are treated to the spectacle of me coming home from work and having an animated conversation with my cat the length of the street in which she walks along and berates me loudly for not getting home earlier to feed her and I order her to come down RIGHT NOW off other people's roofs.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:11 AM on November 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
My cat Merlin used to get stuck in trees every now and then. He'd usually start scrambling up the trunk, and about halfway up pause and realize "fuck, I'm climbing a tree, what do I do?" He'd always decide to continue climbing, but with a little less determination. We'd just have to wait until he screwed up the courage to climb down. Cats can climb down trees; it's just really awkward because they're going backwards, so they don't like it. But Merlin always did it.
One day, when I got home from school Merlin started yelling at me, and I followed him into the yard. The neighbor's cat had gotten stuck in one of our trees, and Merlin wanted me to do something about it. I did the same thing I always did: stood at the base of the tree for several minutes and said encouraging hey-kitty words until the neighbor cat climbed down. Merlin hung out with me the whole time.
Merlin watched her run off to her home yard, and then - I'm not sure if it was territorial behavior or just peer pressure - ran up the same tree. "You're on your own for this one," I told him.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:29 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
One day, when I got home from school Merlin started yelling at me, and I followed him into the yard. The neighbor's cat had gotten stuck in one of our trees, and Merlin wanted me to do something about it. I did the same thing I always did: stood at the base of the tree for several minutes and said encouraging hey-kitty words until the neighbor cat climbed down. Merlin hung out with me the whole time.
Merlin watched her run off to her home yard, and then - I'm not sure if it was territorial behavior or just peer pressure - ran up the same tree. "You're on your own for this one," I told him.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:29 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
You don't see skeletons because the trees absorb the decomposing bodies. You didn't believe that tale about trees being made of air, did you?
posted by stebulus at 8:20 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by stebulus at 8:20 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I had a cat that got stuck on the very top of a telegraph pole. I hadn't seen him for a day or two and then I just chanced to catch sight of the furry fool right there on telegraph pole outside my bedroom window. The top of the pole was maybe 10 inches diameter.
The fire brigade came with their sirens and flashing lights on, for fun. A big fire fighter guy in full outfit came down the ladder holding my cat in one hand like a Diet Coke ad.
posted by colie at 11:15 AM on November 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
The fire brigade came with their sirens and flashing lights on, for fun. A big fire fighter guy in full outfit came down the ladder holding my cat in one hand like a Diet Coke ad.
posted by colie at 11:15 AM on November 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
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