Watch the surprisingly gripping adventure of Gypsy, a cat trapped at the top of a utility pole

Arizona cat stuck on pole.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Facebook/ABC15 Arizona)

Almost 12,000 people were gripped Monday by the livestream of Gypsy the cat, who had climbed to the top of a utility pole in Phoenix and gotten very, very stuck. So stuck, in fact, that she remained atop the pole for at least 24 hours; some neighbors told ABC 15 that she'd been up there since Friday.

With the whole world watching, rescuers made preparations to retrieve Gypsy, including an effort to get her to step into a bucket at the end of a long pole, USA Today's Christal Hayes explains. No luck. At long last, someone had the bright idea to climb up a ladder to get the cat down.

But just as the ladder was being prepared:

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Viewers feared the worst. Reporters rushed to learn the condition of the feline:

Gypsy had made it to the ground unharmed!

Conspiracy theorists fearing the authorities found a similarly patterned cat can rest assured this is the real Gypsy — another live feed captured her gentle removal from the pole. Watch the feed of her adventure below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.