Cat rescued after weekend in tree

As Blackie was sitting by the fireplace this morning reading his former hometown newspaper, The Bemidji Pioneer, he was very touched by this article:

"A 9-month-old cat named Sammy created a lot of excitement for the neighborhood around 12th Street and Bemidji Avenue. The Jim Erdmann family left for a funeral in the Twin Cities Thursday evening and the cat escaped while they packed. Over the weekend, one neighbor put bologna on some branches; another put tuna on a higher branch to coax the cat down. Four days later, the cat was more than 60 feet up. The fire department and police could not help; a member of Charter Communications came with his 40-foot boom truck, using a extender rod to try to help prod the cat down, but to no avail. To the rescue Monday came neighbors, who are also Bemidji State University students in the Outdoor Program Center, with their climbing gear." Above, Chris Bennett comes down with the cat after a very high climb.

"Kids reunited with trapped pet: Young Nicole and James Erdmann were ecstatic after a very long weekend away from their cat, which was rescued Monday after spending several days in a tree. Holding the cat is BSU student Alison Schroeder, who assisted in the rescue." Pioneer Photos/Monte Draper