Finally, I got a pic of our house with the tree that Charley found himself in a couple of Sundays ago. All the way at the top with the little nub and to the left is where Charley was packing back and forth. Since the top of the house is probably between 15 and 20 feet, I'm assuming the tree is close to 50 feet.
He had gotten out the night before when my dad was making steak on the grill and since I was letting them out about an hour a day to get them use to outside, it didn't seem a big deal. Except an hour later, when I called, nothing. No stampede, no Charley in the beds in the garage. And it was cold, not as bone chilling as it had been, but just above freezing. As it got closer to 3 hours outside, close to midnight, I was getting frantic. People started going to sleep, silencing the neighborhood and the air, and slowly I could hear a small meow when I called his name. Eventually, with my heart dropping, I realized he was in the tree. He's all black and was apparently all the way at the top, we couldn't find him. I had to wake up my dad because the thought of my 2 pound lovely boy in the tree was just too much, plus it had started raining and I didn't know if Charley could find cover. My lovely dad got his long ladder and went into the tree. We didn't know where he was and the tree was wet so it was dangerous. Being about 2 am, it seemed best to wait it out until the light. Of course, I could not sleep and every 45 minutes to an hour I went out and called him, only once did I not get his little meow. And I searched the internet for anything that would help bring him back. Kittens don't know that their claws only go one direction; so to get down he would have to take himself down backwards, which also seems that it wouldn't be as frightening because then he wouldn't be looking at the ground. But my little one didn't know this and his mommy just sat at the base of the tree. It was a long night.
When daybreak occurred, I was outside, looking for that little screwball. He was pacing back and forth and crying with emphasis. No food for over 12 hours, likely not much sleeping, he wanted down. I couldn't coax him anywhere so I waited for my dad to come back from his early morning appointment. First thing, dad up the tree. See, firemen will come if my dad is stuck in the tree, not so much for the kitten. By this time, Charley had worked himself down a couple of branches, maybe about 20% of the way down. My dad climbed as high as he could safely get before branches were unsteady. Because of the rain, the branches were wet and he can't afford falling out of a tree, death or injury not okay. With dad in sight, Charley could be coaxed to start to jump to the branches just below him and over half an hour, he got close to my dad. The problem came in when my dad would reach up to get Charley, he was so scared, he would dig his nails into the branch. And with my dad in sight, Charley did not want to climb anymore. Eventually, my dad was able to pull his little body that Charley couldn't keep his claws into the branch. Then Charley started clawing my dad. Oh this little guy. He got down, safely put inside, chowed on food, comforted himself with mommy and was okay. He isn't allowed out of the house until he turns 18, and I mean that in human years not cat!
I love your idea of putting him in the smaller trees and coaxing him down. I think once the weather gets warmer, that will be our outside project.
Makes me realize what horror and uncertainty a human mother feels when her child is missing. I knew where Charley was, I could see him and I knew we could get him back. And I couldn't eat or sleep or think until I knew he was okay. Plus he's a cat and only about 4 months old, not a cat I've had a long history with. What a mother goes through when her child is missing, I don't know how I would live through such a thing. It's sobering.
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