Georgia Magazine - January 2022 - 8

GEORGIA News
Compiled by Jennifer J. Hewett
Fayetteville man goes out on a limb
to rescue cats
C
ats often play fast and loose with their nine lives,
scurrying high up in a tree and getting pitifully stuck.
Fire departments usually decline these emergencies,
but one do-gooder will ride to the rescue. Since 2017, Normer
Adams, 71, has climbed trees to rescue 979 cats and counting.
" It's a myth that they naturally know how to climb down, "
says Adams, who saved one animal that was stranded for a
month. " They get hungry and
dehydrated, and some fall and die. I
believe that is what happens a lot of
the time a pet goes missing. "
Adams, who calls his Fayettevillebased
enterprise Cat Man Do Rescue,
will travel up to an hour away from
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport to perform this service for free,
solely for " the love of our feline friends. "
He also will retrieve children and drones,
but cats-even ferals-constitute most
of his client base. The highest he has
climbed for a rescue is 110 feet up a
pine tree.
Adams launched this unusual
hobby in a therapeutic spirit. He worked
for decades in the field of child advocacy,
as a chaplain and as a lobbyist. When he
retired, he vowed to overcome his fear of
heights, so he began to study the physics
of tree ascent. While up there in the
canopies, he might as well find a way to
help his fellow climbers, he reasoned.
First, Adams assesses the situation.
" I find out if the cat is social and will
approach strangers or if it's normally
skittish and hides under the bed, which will probably require
me to go out on a limb, " he says.
He employs a 600-foot throw-line to hoist himself up; a
" grabbing pole " with a loop at its end to secure the cat; and a
net sack that looks like a pillowcase. Then he shinnies up the
tree like a spider monkey. Some rattling of kitty treats and
Adams' soothing, soft-spoken voice normally reassure
frightened felines. He has enjoyed a 100 percent success rate
so far, with no injuries for him or his rescues.
Take, for example, Checkers, an adolescent cat who was
walking on a leash and harness near a busy Atlanta highway.
The young tomcat, in a burst of energy, slipped away from his
owner and ran over an embankment and up a tree.
" Our little buddy must have been at least 100 feet up, "
8 Georgia Magazine January 2022
Above: For rescue No. 352, Normer
Adams climbed high in this tree at night
to save a feral cat. Above left: A kitty
perches on a pine tree limb as Adams
approaches. Left: Adams hones his
climbing skills during a trip to California.
recalls Bob Orkand, Checkers' owner.
" We were watching from the ground,
just sick, because we were afraid he'd
start jumping from limb to limb and
hang himself [with his leash]. "
Orkand called Cat Man Do Rescue.
" You'd have to see it to believe it, " he says. " It took between
two and three hours, but we got Checkers back-and his
collar and leash are still high up in the tree. We view it as a
small miracle. "
Recently, " The Ellen DeGeneres Show " featured Adams
and rewarded him with a $10,000 check for his good deeds and
$5,000 to donate to his favorite charities. The swag included a
luxury " cat condo " and dozens of cat toys. Adams has two cats
of his own, Purrito and KittyWampus.
" They are indoor cats, " he says pointedly.
For more information about Cat Man Do Rescue, visit
georgiacatintreerescue.com.
-Candice Dyer
COURTESY NORMER ADAMS
COURTESY NORMER ADAMS
COURTESY NORMER ADAMS
http://www.georgiacatintreerescue.com
Georgia Magazine - January 2022

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