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South Cariboo man rescues cat 60 feet up a tree

It’s Todd McQueen’s third cat rescue in addition to a beehive

Corina Holzapfel’s cat Nacho was stuck about 60 feet up a tree. Her husband had put a ladder underneath and climbed that but said he felt unsafe when he’d reached the top of that with the cat still much further up.

“I assume that he was chased by maybe a [coyote]. There are many [coyotes] around here.”

She’s not sure how long he’d been up there but it could have been two days.

“Usually he goes on little trips for a couple of days sometimes but we haven’t heard him calling before this morning.”

It took about five calls to find someone who could go get the cat.

“After I posted on Facebook in a couple of groups, it was quite quick because so many people replied. It was really amazing.”

She said she was a bit disappointed to learn that the local fire department’s ladder wasn’t long enough to reach that far up, though did not specify which fire department.

Todd McQueen, who rescued the cat, says it’s the third cat he’s rescued and he did one beehive that escaped.

“My neighbour growing up when I was a kid was a tree topper guy and he gave me my first belt and spurs. From there it was just trial and error.”

Holzapfel said she appreciated how fast McQueen came to help, arriving within 30 minutes and “fearlessly climbed up the tree.”

Video courtesy of Corina Holzapfel


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Nacho meows while Todd McQueen puts him in his backpack. (Max Winkelman - 100 Mile Free Press)
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Todd McQueen tries to get Nacho into his backpack. (Max Winkelman - 100 Mile Free Press)
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The full length of the tree with the ladder at the bottom and Todd McQueen and Nacho in the top. (Max Winkelman - 100 Mile Free Press)