By Adam H. Beasley
The Miami Herald

LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla. — How many firefighters does it take to extract a terrified kitten from a home's air-conditioning ducts?

Three.

One to burrow head-first into the vent until only his rear end protrudes and the others to tell news crews to knock off the jokes — which would invariably cause someone to laugh, prompting the startled kitten to retreat farther into the ductwork.

This went on for about an hour Monday afternoon before the yellow tabby was finally rescued.

And now, maybe some people can get some sleep.

For three days, the walls of Marques Bailey's home in Lauderdale Lakes reverberated with the cries of the kitten, which apparently crawled through a small exterior hole in the home.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue was called on Saturday.

Their best advice at the time was to try luring the kitten out of the hole with a saucer of milk.

Didn't work.

The department was summoned again on Monday. Lt. John Micklos supervised the operation. Firefighter Roberto Madera provided backup. And driver/engineer Mark Maynard got to crawl, on his hand and knees, through an opening the size of a doggy door.

The kitten rebuffed every attempt to get it out. "Hey, kitty, kitty," fell on deaf ears. Kicks to adjacent walls only froze the feline in its tracks. The firefighters even tried to poke it out with a long piece of metal, but to no avail.

Finally, someone thought to coax it out with a can of tuna. A few minutes later, Maynard emerged from the crawl space, clutching a tiny but boisterous cat.

"It seems like he's OK," Micklos said afterward, as the cat lapped milk from a bowl. "He was a little stubborn."

The kitten emerged from the wall without a collar. Bailey said he plans to keep it.

"This cat cost me a lot of money in property damage," Bailey said.

"I'm going to name it Trouble."

Copyright 2008 The Miami Herald