What is it with trees and cats? One of the most distinctive pussies living near Macfilos Towers got himself into a bit of a pickle at the weekend. A magnificent Siberian specimen, Teddy is forever on the lookout for prey, especially the members of the squirrel family, which call the poplar tree home. Shorn of foliage in a recent pollarding aimed at killing off the parasitical ivy, the old tree was just too easy to climb. But, it seems, too precipitous to allow a safe return to earth.
Teddy went missing a few days ago and was eventually discovered clinging to the top of the old tree. No amount of rattling of the treats tin would persuade him to attempt the descent. In the end, all else failing, it was time to call the Fire Brigade.
Cats marooned in trees appears to be staple fare for London’s finest when they aren’t actually fighting fires. The big red fire engine soon arrived and they set about erecting ladders and climbing up to coax a fearful Teddy to the ground. He wasn’t having anything to do with it, of course, and kept moving to the opposite side of the tree as soon as the ladder moved in for the kill.
After more than an hour of cajoling and offering tasty morsels, Teddy leapt too far and fell to earth, legs akimbo and all that fur acting as a parachute. Sadly, I couldn’t get the camera focused in time to capture the denouement. A terrified Teddy darted off from his landing spot in the bushes and wasn’t seen again for another full day. He returned to the feeding bowl, eventually, and seemingly none the worse for wear.
Camera? The one that’s always in the pocket, the iPhone 12 Pro Max…
A cup of coffee works wonders in supporting Macfilos
Did you know that Macfilos is run by a dedicated team of volunteers? We rely on donations to help pay our running costs. And even the cost of a cup of coffee will do wonders for our energy levels.
I noticed the role played in your story, Mike, by the invisible iPhone 12 Pro max. Having just acquired an iPhone 12 mini and – with considerable help from my 17 year-old granddaughter – beginning to find my way around it, I am absolutely stunned by the quality of the photos it can take, even blown up to six times the size of an iPhone screen! Perhaps we shall all end up as Ladies of Harbury……………
I am also impressed. If all I wanted to do was illustrate articles for Macfilos I could manage well with the latest iPhone. My main problem in using it as a regular “in the pocket” camera is the handling. I still can’t get used to the haptics and I am always afraid of dropping it.
Agreed, Mike. But the other day someone showed me a sort of stick-on holder, which I think may very well improve the haptics for camera use. I aim to get one and will let you know.
Sorry: I meant “Marbury”, of course.
Where I live you can be charged for asking the Fire Brigade to take a cat out of a tree. The charge can be €500 per hour or part thereof. I don’t know whether it is always applied, though. My younger daughter sent me video the other day of a cat leaping 5 stories out of a burning building in the US and landing under a parked car, whereupon it shook itself down and ran away.
Our late cat, who died the day after we came back from being in Wetzlar with you in 2018, Mike, went walkabout on us about a year earlier. A little elderly lady from around the corner came around to my house one day and said that our cat was in her greenhouse and very sick. So I went around with a cage and picked him up. My younger daughter went around to the lady’s house later to thank her, but she nearly freaked when she went inside as there were photographs of our cat everywhere in the house. However, the woman told my daughter that her husband had died a few years earlier and our cat had been great company for her. He, of course, had spotted a good thing, double dinners and all that sort of thing. Wayne is right. Cats do own humans and families, sometimes more than one at a time.
William
I think this service is free in England at least. I’ve never heard of anyone being charged for cat retrieval. Perhaps they regard such incidents as an extension of routing training.
Seen on a T-shirt:
“Humans own dogs
Cats own humans”
Well, as some callous (or, possibly, realistic) fireman said: “nobody has ever found a cat skeleton in a treetop”… They do get down somehow when they´re hungry enough.
That said, most of us are not insensitive to the plaintive meows from a cat high above… They just sound so helpless.
They’re good highly trained actors and attend “F.A.D.A.” Feline Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Most of them take “The damsel in distress tied to the railroad track” class and most pass that test.
They also often major in the “Groundhog Day you haven’t fed me yet” class.
And the winner for all top cats is “You’re making me SO unhappy!” class.
We should recognize their outstanding performances by giving them “Felix” Awards.
Nurse says it’s time for my nap…
Thanks Mike for a truly funny story which reminded me fo a simimar adventure with one of our cats. She had climbed up in our neighbour’s palm tree. We could hear her mawing but could not see her when our son finally spotted her at the top of our neighbour’s palm tree. No call to the firemen, we had a ladder up to the tree but just like Teddy Fana was unwilling to go down. My son had to battle with her but finally managed to take her down, his arms full of scratches from the cat’s claws. It must have taught her a lesson as she no longer venture in high trees and keep herself to our small fig tree.
Poor Teddy! But cats are like politicians (or is it the other way round?) in that they constantly shift position, find the most comfortable spots, stay when free food is offered, leave when not and never admit to anything.
Brilliant!