I should have known it would happen sooner or later. I've been meaning to get the 2nd floor porch screened in before I let Pete out there unsupervised. The girls have never tried to jump, but he's an adventurous boy. He slipped out on Sat. and either jumped or somehow climbed down. Fortunately I noticed he was missing pretty quickly and found him under the front bushes happily chewing chewing on some grass. Because the bushes are right up against the house, I couldn't get to him. I tried coaxing him out with canned food, but no luck. Since we live pretty close to a busy intersection I was very concerned he'd make a run for the street, so I called our rescue group coordinator for advice. She advised me to stay calm (easier said than done) and offered to come over to try to net him. In the meantime, something spooked Pete and he took off around the back of the house. At this point, he decided he was scared and started howling, along with trying to crawl up the side of the house to climb in a window. Every time I was able to get within a couple of feet of him, he'd take off again. He finally ended up under a pine tree and I was able to crawl underneath and retrieve him but not without some hissing and scratching. Once inside, he went into hiding under the kitchen sink and avoided me the rest of the day. Fortunately he's back to his sweet self now. I've calmed down too and am planning on getting estimates for the porch!
