(please pardon the disjointed nature of this posting, as it is mostly copied and pasted Facebook comments)

Just returned from Lancaster, where we rescued Ralph, a poor kitty that had been stuck in this Red Oak for 7 days. Temperature = 11 degrees, windchill negative 10. The icy temps were the least of the difficulties. Have a look at his position in this tree at 70+ feet (red circle)



Seeing this image when wee arrived on the scene was troubling, and it worsened as we walked around to get a better perspective. There were no limbs above the Ralph, and none high/near enough to offer any double crotching, or limbwalking maneuvers.
I made what I thought was the perfect shot to have any hope of making the rescue (in the photo, the green circle is the TIP), but it depended on Ralph's interest in cooperating...

This guy was freaked out. Imagine being up in a tree for 7 days... no food... no water.. FREEZING... NO SLEEP!!!! This cat was beyond psycho when we met him and food was the last thing on his delirious, feline mind. Angie went up first, and tried to lure him toward the trunk with food... No such luck... he ran further out this limb, to the very end of the twigs.



After realizing that Ralph was totally out of his mind, and unreceptive to treats, we formulated a plan to use the sidewinder to launch a line over the skinny limb he was on and pull the limb toward an adjacent limb, shake shake, and have him transfer.... Ground crew standing ready with an outstretched blanket, just in case...

Pulled the slingshot bands back, took aim... and .. SNAP! Band BROKE!!!
The plug was lost in the deep snow...

Zach, a faithful friend to the owner(who was not present) and all around great guy, had an ingenious idea for repairing the sling shot head with the butt of a mini mag-light he happened to have in his pocket.
Take aim again, and, let her fly! great shot right where we wanted it.

We were able to successfully perform the shakedown without sending Ralph sailing through the air, and hopefully onto the outstretched firemen's blanket.

This new location, (in the photo it would be the black dot) was still not a desirable spot for any type of limb walking. We almost resorted to trying to shake the cat down, with hopes of catching him in the blanket....


I climbed up to the leader Ralph was on, and used the Alternate lanyard technique to climb/shimmy up/out about 40' to within 7' of him. Still tied in at my original tie in point which was now nearly horizontal with me. Angie clipped the Sidewinder slingshot onto the rope, I hoisted it up to me, and extended the pole to 8'. Things were iffy at this point... as I was closing in on Ralphy. He, of course scurried to the very end of the upper branches as I approached. I was able to lasso him with the sidewinder head, and pull him toward me without him falling or jumping ...whew! I snatched him up and bagged him. It was very intense, I grabbed him by the scruff an pulled him to my chest, and he relaxed in my arms purring loudly. We relaxed there for a few minutes before I tried to bag him. Of course he freaked out, and clawed and bit me as I put him in the empty rope bag. In the end the plan came together, and everyone is safe and warm.

The temperature plunged even deeper overnight to -11... I am doubtful Ralph would have survived another night in these conditions.



Thanks to Angie, and Zach who played every bit as much of a part of this rescue as myself.

The Rescue took nearly 4 hours to complete. Before leaving, we insisted the owner take him to the vet immediately.

random photo taken by Zach


Video of the finale

You're not kidding when you say challenging rescue -- harrowing might be a better word!

Well done, and thanks for doing your part to enhance the reputation of tree climbers in general!

EJ...great job
Brad...harrowing was the right term!...

Superb, this is the most challenging cat rescue I've ever heard of. You and Angie showed some quality climber and problem solving skills making it happen, the world is now a better place because of your effort and success! Really made my day when I heard about it.
-AJ

Yet another great quality of the Sidewinder, because of the way the slings terminate on the head, it's much easier to do field repairs on than the other big slingshot.
-AJ

Thanks guys, I am still kinda floating after this surreal climbing adventure.

Now to repair my sidewinder...

Have any of you ever used the black bands ala the other big slingshot on a sidewinder head?
Those bands seem a bit more powerful, thus requiring less of a draw down the pole to achieve the desired range.

I am thinking of trying them on my sidewinder, however if it has not proven successful in the past, I will scratch the idea.

I've used the black latex tubing and the natural version on my Sidewinder, I can detect zero difference. The black latex tubing has pigment mixed in, it's the only difference.

The tubing is a thicker spec on the Bigshot, that's why you get more power with less stretch distance. I think that spec is too heavy for the Sidewinder painting pole. I can shoot higher than a Bigshot with my Sidewinder, that's because I extend the tubing full length of a 10' pole. I think the answer is make a longer pole for your Sidewinder. Also... cold temperatures greatly reduce the height of the throw for any slingshot, Bigshot or otherwise.
-AJ

Ahh, there is a diameter difference in the tubing... I didn't realize this, the one time that I used a BigShot.

What I need is for Ron to sell me one of his Pistol grip trigger mechanisms with the extension included!

Thanks for the learnin' moss.

The black tubing is more resistent to UV degradation than the natural.

And great rescue - very resourceful thinking!!!

WOW Drainhook! I was just getting online to post my lastest rescue and read yours. What a great rescue. I know this is an older post but, I just found it. I have a question for you and the more experienced climbers. I have been climbing for almost 3.5 to 4 years now and I dont think I would have been successful if I had to rescue this cat. The reason I would possibly fail with this rescue is my trust in small diameter tie in points.

What was the diameter of the limbs at your heighest TIP?

What is the smallest diameter TIP you would trust in an oak?

Nice job.

BKS

Hey Thanks BKS,
I had only been climbing on rope for a little over a year when this rescue was made, but I had been climbing a lot without ropes prior to.
The last 40 feet of this climb was climbing on the tree with a tie in point near the trunk, and using a short double ended lanyard as a safety, on the leader that I was climbing. As for the size of limbs to tie in to, It is a matter of psychological comfort, and risk assessment. Some guys say that they will tie in to anything larger than their wrist... I guess that is one way to look at it, but for me is is always a judgment call based on many factors, such as the angle of the dangle, and the distance from the trunk, etc.

happy climbing, and great work on your kitty rescues.

hook

The part about that climb which would've freaked me out is the leverage on the limb being so far out on it at the angle from perpendicular/main trunk. Good to know you had a line back to the center. I've been resisting the call of the Rope Wrench but revisiting this post makes me think that a Rope Wrench style "distributed SRT anchor" would've been really helpful on a rescue climb like this.
-AJ