"She has posted on Twitter that she has a cat stuck up a tree in her garden.
Can you let her know that I have a contact if she requires it."
Soon a flurry of emails and messages were going to and fro.
Preliminary arrangements were soon in place - including a protocol for social distancing
just to remind ourselves of the times we are in.
I got roped in as the common link between those who cared for cats
and those who had the cat dilemma
none of whom had ever met.
A free climber from a local cat club voluntered to come and scale the tree,
so we went to meet her.
On the way we discussed the appropriateness or otherwise of our journey.
"Does cat rescue count as essential travel?"
"I think it comes under animal welfare. I think travel for that purpose is permitted."
We entered the garden and looked for the cat.We listened carefully, but not a miaow was to be heard.
Beyond the northern boundary lay a small wood.
I scanned the lower branches,
hoping to spot the miscreant moggy.
Then I saw her,
and my heart sank.
This would not be an easy problem to solve.
The silly puss was some forty to fifty foot up
a not terribly substantial ash tree,
The poor cat didn't look very happy
as it shuffled around
trying to find a comfy position,
and failing.
We then watched with dismay from our viewing area far below,
as the cat climbed up another three feet or so,
before pausing to wash.
"How long has it been up there?"
"Well we first noticed it yesterday morning."
They decided it was about 9am when they first saw it.
Due to the height of puss' precarious perch
it was hard to zoom in and get decent picture on my phone.
Fortunately I had my camera with me.
Meanwhile, the free climber had made her way into the adjacent woodland
battling her way through brambles and tangled undergrowth to the base of the tree,
However, the branches were not substantial enough for her to safely attempt a rescue
and we quickly reached the verdict that a skills of a tree surgeon were required.
As we waited I posted on local social media in an attempt to find the owner,
At this stage I could only post the photo taken on my phone.
Although my camera is wifi enabled
I haven't work out how to sync this yet
as the camera is new and I am still finding my way round it.
Meanwhile my accomplice, who understands cats,
tried to get hold of the same tree surgeon who rescued her cat,
when she found herself in a similar predicament.
when her cat climbed a tree and was unable to get down.
Alas the he wasn't answering his phone, so a message was left.
There was nothing we could do at this stage,
so we thanked the free climber and returned home.
I removed my sd card from the camera
and uploaded a better picture of the cat onto social media via my computer,as I wasn't convinced that even a doting owner would have identified their cat from the first picture!
I tagging the only other person I knew who lived close by.
By a convolunted route contact was made with the tree surgeon,
who had bad news and good news.
The bad news was that he was already committed to a job that would take the rest on the day.
The good news was that he recommended another tree surgeon to come and rescue the cat.
I had just sat down to my lunch when I got a message that the second tree surgeon was on his way and we needed to return.
My soup was consumed in record time.
"Have you got a bag we could use?" my friend asked
"A supermarket bag?" I suggested.
"Hmm, it needs to be able to be fastened."
"How about this old baby change bag.
I should have chucked it years ago?"
It was subjected to a stern appraisal, before being given the reluctant nod of approval.
I emptied the contents onto my desk,
which included a variety of odd baby socks, some childrens books,
a baby gro,
a top for a small child
some out of date chewing gum
(I didn't check, I just assumed)
and some vintage church notices from 2002, beautifully decorated by the KHT!
I did say it was an old bag!
We hit the road on our second essential non-essential trip of the day
arriving a minute or so before the tree surgeon,
who soon got to work.
We watched in awe as he threw ropes into the air,
repeating the process until they were placed to his satisfaction.
Branches that threatened to impair his ascent were quickly removed,
snapping easily like brittle twigs
which made us fear for his life!
We took comfort from the fact that as this was his profession
we assumed that he could read the trees
and knew how to tackle this seemingly impossible problem safely!
Then he slowly began his ascent working his way up and across
towards where the cat huddled in the fork of two branches.
Meanwhile I was snapping away on my camera.
We could hardly bare to watch, convinced he was about to fall
Upon reaching the cat,
he took several attempts to get hold of her.
We watched anxiously as she wriggled
worried in case the cat escaped
and either went even further up the tree out of reach
or decided to jump.
The cat was unceremoniously gathered up and bundled into the bag.
The treef surgeon quickly lowered himself to the ground
in a fraction of the time taken by his ascent
and handed over the bag containing the cat.
My friend quickly checked the poor thing,
which seemed none the worse for its adventure.
It was determined that we did not need to traumatise it further
by keeping it constrained and taking it to a vet - if we could find one open!
Once it was free, the cat quickly retreated beneath their picnic table,
and continued to regard us suspiciously.
Everone was relived that the cat was safely down from its perch
the rescuer posed happily for his photo,
gathered up his ropes and departed -
happy to be a hero
and definitely worthy to be one.
I returned home, sat down at my computer and noticed the sd card still in the slot.
No series of pictures of that heroic rescue then :(
Fortunately a few others were taken by others.
DH then decide to enable the bluetooth on my new camera,
which I had tried and failed to do.
He also established what lead I require
so that I never have to remove my sd card from the camera again.
The silver lining is there if you look, even if you hadn't wanted the cloud in the first place...
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