PHOTOS: Arborist Saves the Day! Stranded Kitty Rescued in Prospect Park

In a thrilling, acrobatic defeat of gravity, this evening a Prospect Park arborist managed to rescue a cat that at gotten herself  – well over a hundred feet in the air.

The tubby white cat had been stuck in a sycamore maple tree on Lookout Hill since Monday night, when something likely scared it up the tree. A park rescue attempt yesterday afternoon spooked the kitty further up the tree, where she remained, wavering in the wind and clinging for her life, until Prospect Park Alliance arborist Chris Ekstrom, 45, literally bagged the cat on Wednesday night.

“She clung to me because she was desperate,” said Ekstrom, who used a tangle of ropes to ascend the tree, grabbing the cat and zipping her into the safety of a duffle bag for the descent.

Ekstrom said that while the climb was challenging, it was good practice since he’s relatively new to the practice.

Earlier in the day onlookers had gasped at the site, wondering how on earth a cat had ever climbed so high in a tree – and more importantly, how it would get down.

“That’s amazing. Man, I think she’s going to need to use one of her nine lives to get down,” said John Labriolla, 31, a Kensington resident.

Sean Casey, the founder of Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Kensington, who Patch called to the scene after first learning of the poor pussy’s situation, said that he’s seen cats stuck that high up on a few occasions – though not always with such a happy ending.

This rescue was particularly difficult, as the kitty had chosen to climb a tree on a wooded slope of Lookout Hill – too far from the main road to call on conventional cat rescue techniques like cherry pickers or Fire Department ladder trucks.

Casey called the police to the scene, who in turn called the Parks Department.

 “There may not be a way to get this cat out of the tree,” said Casey. “It’s in about the worst place possible.”

“The don’t even prune a tree like that, they don’t climb up that high,” said one park officer.

Then Ekstrom came riding up the hill on his bicycle – though it may as well have been a white steed. By then a crowd had assembled to watch breathlessly as Ekstrom swung from one branch to another, finally reaching the cat, only to have it scamper up a few more branches.

Now that the cat is back on the ground, Casey will take her to Sean Casey Animal Rescue, where she will be given a checkup and an IV. The shelter will check to see if the cat is implanted with a microchip (as many animals are) that might tell them who the owner is. Otherwise, the cat will go up for adoption once she has recovered.

Casey observed that based on her friendliness, she was or probably had been someone’s pet at some point.

“I think she is ready for a plate of salmon,” said one park officer. “With a side of risotto.”