OUT ON A LIMB

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

-  Dana Hedgpeth

FOR THE MOST part, Hank, a two-year-old tan-and-white rescue cat, is a homebody-and good reason. The one time he got out of his yard in Washington, DC, he managed to get stuck in a 60-foot-tall tree for five days and four nights with no food or water.

Hank's big adventure started last 6 November. Delores Bushong, his 75-year-old owner, had just returned from a farmers market when she realized Hank hadn't come in for his midday snack. She called his name, in alleys and streets around her home. As it got dark, she began to worry. Then she heard mewling, looked up, and spotted Hank, perched on a branch near the top of a neighbour's tree.

Bushong believes Hank got under a fence and then became spooked by some dogs. The more scared he got, the higher he climbed.

"Cats have an amazing ability to climb up trees, but actually they aren't that good at climbing down," said Dan D'Eramo, director of field services for the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA).