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The loud meows coming from a drainage pipe at Rogue Credit Union’s Center Drive branch weren’t exactly the deposit bankers were expecting on a hot and smoky Thursday afternoon. South Medford branch manager Derek Reeser and some employees went outside to investigate after a handful of ATM customers and bank patrons mentioned “hearing a kitten somewhere.” Reeser said in all his 20 years with the bank, he’s never heard of an animal finding his way inside one of the drain pipes. “We got a few complaints. The first was around 8 o’clock in the morning. We were told there was a noise, maybe a cat, around the building, so we looked around and didn’t really see anything. We just figured, ‘OK, there’s nothing out here,’” said Reeser. “Eventually, we noticed some people kind of started to walk around and look in the bushes and stuff. It was loud, you could hear it. One of our members found it. There was this drain pipe that goes up from the roof in through the concrete.” After making initial calls to RCU’s facilities and security team and rolling up their sleeves to troubleshoot the kitten rescue, Reeser turned to local law enforcement who sent county animal control officers to help. First on scene was Officer Andy Swanson, followed by Officer Mike Slusarczyk. Reeser said the rescue effort was anything but swift, thanks to a hard-to-access pipe and a kitten who was less than thrilled with the situation. “It seemed like he was in pain because it was really loud, so it was pretty heartbreaking,” Reeser said. “Animal control spent quite a bit of time. Everyone was trying really hard. “We were trying to get our hands up there and trying to get a video of it. We tried to basically do everything we could to get the cat out of there. People from around the building and using the ATM were like, ‘I hear a cat!’ ‘Yeah, we do, too. We’re working on it!’” Ultimately, rescuers sent a small trickle of water down the pipe, helping to slide the kitten closer to the opening. “He was folded over like he had tried going up or something and then tried turning around. His head was caught looking down,” Reeser said. “The water thing seemed to work, so we did a little more until he got down enough where the animal control guy could reach in and gently pull it out.” Slusarczyk said the kitten, a male tabby about 2 to 3 months old, emerged from the pipe looking like an angry soaked rat after his unexpected bathing. “He’s a cute little guy but he was sure hissing and spitting yesterday because it was obviously a little traumatizing being trapped and my partner had to reach down and yank on his tail to get him out of there,” Slusarczyk said on Friday. “But today… he’s adorable.” Slusarczyk said he posted “before and after” photos on the shelter’s Facebook page of the kitten, looking both “sopping wet” and “sweet and fluffy.” Pre-empting the expected onslaught of well-wishers wanting to adopt the kitten, Slusarczyk said the shelter has lots of wonderful felines with great stories and that the rescued kitty would be held for monitoring and socializing, eventually adoptable on a first-come, first-served basis. Slusarczyk noted his agency had an interesting week, having earlier rescued a goat from certain death on Interstate 5. Local law enforcement wrangled the goat long enough to get him tethered to a guard rail to await animal control officers and a helpful volunteer with a livestock trailer. Slusarczyk said the large male goat posed a greater threat than a kitten’s disdain for being flushed out of a drain pipe. “It was a giant friggin’ goat and he was jumping back and forth over the guard rail to get away. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little intimidated,” Slusarczyk joked. Online, http://www.fotas.org/ Reach Medford freelancer writer Buffy Pollock at [email protected].