Arborist who rescues scaredy cats saves feline stranded 80-feet up
By Mary Saladna
Click here for updates on this story
SHERBORN, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Peanut the cat is back on solid ground after spending a few days perilously high up in a tree thanks to an expert arborist who doubles as a scaredy-cat hero.
“You know, we could hear her. It took us a while to figure out where exactly she was,” said Polly Kornblith.
Peanut, an 8-year-old rescue from the Animal Rescue League that normally spends her days as a barn cat, was nearly 80 feet up in a white pine since Sunday morning.
“Probably there were coyotes. Something came and scared her because she’s not an adventurous cat,” said Kornblith, who owns Wildstar Farms in Sherborn.
On Sunday, the Sherborn Fire Department brought in their 80-foot ladder truck, but the commotion only made Peanut climb higher. Kornblith then contacted Andrew Joslin, owner of Tall Pines Tree School who also rescues cats on the side.
“I realized once I got up there the cat was in a more precarious position that I realized from the ground,” Joslin said Monday.
Peanut had inched out onto a branch too weak to hold Joslin’s weight, so he tried luring her into a cat carrier with sardines — to no avail. Eighty feet below, Peanut’s anxious family set up an emergency tarp in case she fell or jumped.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this, and, hopefully, she’ll just hang tight for a little bit longer,” said Kornblith.
Joslin then set up a cat trap secured near the trunk.
“I’ll bait the trap, I’ll put a tarp on it, line it with pine needles — make it like an inviting cat cave,” he said.
An hour later, Peanut was secure in the trap and being lowered to the ground.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
