One life down? This eight-month-old male cat, Mouse Trap, with his owner, Janet Roesner, is one lucky fellow. He made his way to the top of a 20-foot power pole without harm and was rescued by Arrowhead Electric Cooperative linemen Jerry Paine and John Twiest on Wednesday, February 16.
When Cook County Law Enforcement Dispatcher Lindsay Mielke contacted the Maple Hill Fire Department with an emergency at 8:05 a.m. on Wednesday, February 17, she had to preface the information by saying the call was not a joke. A cat needed rescuing—it was stranded high atop a power pole at a home on School House Road in Grand Marais.
Betsy Zavoral was the first Maple Hill Firefighter to respond and she told Mielke to contact Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc., which would be able to rescue the cat with its bucket truck. Linemen Jerry Paine and John Twiest answered the call. Fortunately the men were able to quickly get the cat out of its predicament and safely home to its owners, Janet and Jim Roesner.
The Roesners are not sure how long their eight-monthold male cat, Mouse Trap, had been stranded on the power pole. They had visitors the night before and he must have escaped when they left. They didn’t notice he was missing until about 8:00 a.m. They searched the house because it was not unusual for the fluffy white cat with gold markings to hide. When they couldn’t find him, Jim expanded the search outdoors.
Just moments after stepping outside, he heard Mouse Trap meowing, obviously in distress. It took Jim awhile to find the cat, as he never expected him to be 20 feet overhead. Finally, he looked up to see Mouse Trap on his dangerous perch.
Not knowing what to do, the Roesners called 911. “I know it wasn’t really an emergency— but I knew they would know who to call,” said Janet.
“We were worried he was going to get electrocuted,” said Jim.
They were happy to see the Arrowhead Electric truck and Jim watched as the lineman went up in the bucket to rescue Mouse Trap, who didn’t appear to fight the stranger plucking him from the post. Jim wasn’t surprised. “He had nowhere to go but down!”
Mouse Trap seemed unfazed by his adventure, although the Roesners’ other pet, a Shih Tzu named Choo- Choo, seemed overjoyed to have him home.
“They are best friends,” said Janet.
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