One night a woman named Anna Ruth was cat-sitting her daughter’s feline. Somehow the cat managed to escape outside. When it failed to return the following morning, she found the cat clinging to a branch about 30 feet up in a spindly tree. Unable to lure it down, she called the fire department and asked for help getting the cat out of the tree.

“We don’t do that anymore,” the dispatcher said. When Anna Ruth persisted, the dispatcher was polite but firm. “The cat will come down when it gets hungry enough,” she said.

“How do you know that?” asked Anna Ruth.

“Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?” the dispatcher said.

Two hours later the cat was back, looking for breakfast. (1)

Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a skeleton of a cat in a tree either. Cats must do pr…