Vigilant driver helps rescue kitten found dangling off Hood Canal Bridge

An eight-week-old kitten found dangling from an air vent alongside the Hood Canal Bridge was rescued earlier this week, after getting the attention of a nearby driver.

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According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the driver first noticed “repeated animal cries from a tiny animal” while stopped on the bridge for a boat crossing. Not long after that, local crews responded to the scene.

At first, the bridge’s supervisor Paul Gahr thought the noises were being made by a species of pigeon known to reside in the area. A subsequent search turned up nothing, before Gahr decided to check again.

The second try turned out to be the charm, with the small black kitten found hanging from an air vent 20 feet above the ground, camouflaged against the dark backdrop. The kitten then leapt from the vent and onto the surface of a crew-access area below.

A crew member then loaded the animal into a cat carrier, before handing it over the vigilant driver who had first heard the kitten’s cries for help. After a local veterinarian determined that the cat was uninjured “despite falling 25 feet and later another 20 feet,” the driver volunteered to provide it with a permanent home.

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