Los Gatos Locals Rally Together To Rescue Cat Stranded In Redwood

LOS GATOS, CA — Earlier this month, Los Gatos resident Lani Harr made a post on the Nextdoor app to ask her neighbors for help — a cat had been stuck near the top of a towering redwood tree in her neighborhood for several days.

While dozens of concerned residents responded to the post and phone calls into multiple agencies were made — all hope to save the cat was quickly dwindling.

"People were getting increasingly concerned after days went by and it was obvious the cat couldn't get down," Samantha Moore, one of the Los Gatos residents who helped to collaborate the feline's rescue, told Patch. "We called the fire department...all kind of different arborists and tree trimmers but I guess they were all booked."

Those living near the tree on Reservoir Road attempted to lure the cat into attempting the climb with a can of tuna. Another discussion raised the possibility of placing a mattress, among other cushioned items, at the base of the tree trunk to prepare for a worse case scenario.

It was until Oscar Escobar, an estimator at Skyview Tree Service, stepped up to the job that things started to look up. When Escobar first got the call, he was scrambling to coordinate the rescue with his coworkers at Skyview, as he was out of the area.

"I called [Lani Harr] and told her 'I can't do it today but we can do it first thing Monday morning,'" Escobar told Patch.

Monday morning was day four for the cat, who had been mewing in peril on and off as it paced the top branches of the redwood, which one neighbor estimated was 50 feet high.

On Monday, neighbors stood outside to watch the scene as Escobar's crew set up ropes and began their 20-minute climb. Escobar's climber bent a branch down, allowing the cat to safely climb down as others held a tarp to catch the cat below.

"The cat got a little scared but came down on his own," Escobar said.

Successfully, the cat jumped down, landing on the tarp and immediately scampering away, hopefully toward home.

"With this year, we need small wins like this, everyone was cheering," Moore said. "It was very touching."

Escobar has been with Skyview Tree Service for almost a decade and says he loves any opportunity to help animals in distress.

"We came from a country where we deal with a lot of this type of stuff, we take care of animals, they're used to snakes and things like that so they're not scared," he said, adding that he and many of his coworkers are from El Salvador.

Moore and other neighbors offered to pay Escobar, but he respectfully refused.

"I told her I'm not doing this for money, I do it because I have a heart," Escobar said.

But Moore was determined to do something, so she donated to a local charity effort that Escobar had started on Facebook last year. Escobar had intended to raise $200 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a request he had made to his friends for his birthday.

Moore said she donated the full amount to thank Escobar for his own act of charity.

"Even in a year like we've had for someone to care about a cat with so many other things going on, it was just a really nice thing for a lot of us to see," Moore said.

What's more, Escobar said he's gotten three new clients from those who saw or heard about the cat's rescue. During the pandemic, Escobar said that Skyview Tree Service has been significantly impacted, losing about 60 percent of its usual business.

"I didn't do this for money but in the end I'm getting paid," Escobar said. "It's a lot of love."