Ohio Crew Heard a Cry Inside an Excavator. The Kitten They Saved Is Now a Shop Cat in Training
A faint sound coming from an excavator at an Ohio job site led a construction crew to an unexpected discovery: a tiny orange kitten moving around inside the machine. The rescue did not end with getting her to safety. It led to a name, a foster home, kitten-sized safety gear and a future place with the company that found her.
The kitten was found on July 14 in Leavittsburg, where RiverReach Construction has been working on the removal of the Leavittsburg Dam for Trumbull County Metroparks. Chase Guello, an operations supervisor with the company, was checking a Komatsu excavator when he heard a strange noise. He described it as a faint beeping or screeching sound, and other accounts described it simply as meowing.
Guello climbed onto the excavator to track it down. Inside the turret, he spotted the source: a very small orange kitten walking around within the machine. Getting her out was not as simple as opening a panel and lifting her free. Guello went underneath the excavator and removed the skid plate, or protective panels under the machine, creating a path for the kitten to come out through the bottom.
The cat was only a few weeks old, according to one account, and small enough to turn a piece of heavy equipment into a hiding place. Guello later said he believed she may have been inside the excavator for a day or two. What is clear is that the sound coming from the machine sent the crew looking, and that search turned an ordinary inspection into an animal rescue.
From the work zone to temporary care
Once the kitten was out, the crew brought her into the company's air-conditioned office trailer, where she stayed for the rest of the day. The workers then looked for the cat's family. They searched for her mother, and one account said they also looked for siblings, but they did not find any other cats and concluded she was alone.
That left the team with a decision, and they chose to care for her. RiverReach later shared updates as the kitten recovered with a foster family. The company itself is based in Barberton and specializes in environmental construction, including river and stream restoration, dam removal, dredging and environmental remediation, but at the Leavittsburg site the attention briefly shifted from a dam project to a much smaller life pulled from a machine.
The rescue quickly became the kind of story people wanted to pass along. Videos shared by the company drew widespread attention on social media, with one account saying they were viewed millions of times. The appeal was easy to understand. A tiny cat discovered in the workings of an excavator had not only survived, but had also landed with a crew willing to keep looking after her.
Why the kitten became Sue
The crew settled on a name that tied her directly to the machine where she was found. RiverReach said the kitten was named Komatsu, or Sue for short, a nod to the excavator's manufacturer. Other accounts referred to her simply as Sue, but all connected the name to the Komatsu brand.
That connection did not stop with the name. After word of the rescue reached Komatsu, the company sent the kitten her own construction gear. Sue received a tiny hard hat and a high-visibility vest sized for a kitten, turning the rescue into an even more memorable chapter for the crew that pulled her from the excavator.
By then, Sue had moved beyond being a found animal at a work site. Accounts of the rescue described her as a mascot and even a kind of employee. The idea was lighthearted, but it reflected something real about the way the crew responded. They did not just remove a kitten from danger and move on. They kept making space for her in the life of the company.
A permanent job waiting for her
Sue's story continued after her rescue and foster care. RiverReach said that after roughly two weeks of care, she went home with the family of the company's shop mechanic. That arrangement is expected to become permanent in a practical way as well as a sentimental one.
When she is old enough, Guello said, Sue will travel with the mechanic to and from work and will eventually become RiverReach's shop cat. For a kitten first noticed because of a faint cry from inside an excavator, it is a remarkably secure ending: a home, familiar people and a place she is expected to report to in the future.
RiverReach has said it plans to keep posting updates as Sue gets older and begins life at the shop. For now, the smallest member of the team already has the essentials covered. She was heard, she was rescued and she has somewhere to belong.
Why kittens hide in machinery
Small cats often crawl into parked vehicles, farm equipment, and construction machines because the spaces feel dark, sheltered, and hard for predators to reach. After a machine has been running, leftover warmth can make engine bays, wheel wells, and undercarriages especially attractive. Young kittens may also wander toward food smells, dust free corners, or the sound of people.
That is why a quick walkaround matters before startup. Look under the machine, tap the hood or body panels, and listen for meowing. If you hear an animal, shut the equipment off and check again before moving it.
How to remove a trapped kitten safely
Do not reach blindly into belts, fans, or tight metal spaces. Turn the machine fully off, remove the key, and let hot parts cool. Use a flashlight, not your hands first, to locate the animal. A calm voice, a small dish of food, or a towel placed near an opening can help draw a kitten out.
If the kitten is stuck, injured, or hidden behind moving parts, call animal control, a rescue group, or a veterinarian for advice. Gloves and a carrier are useful because frightened kittens can scratch or bolt.
What a new shop cat needs
A kitten living around a workplace needs the same basics as any pet: a vet check, vaccines, parasite treatment, spay or neuter when age appropriate, fresh water, regular meals, and a clean litter box placed well away from noisy equipment. Keep hazardous fluids, cords, sharp tools, and open bays secured.
For socializing, give the kitten a quiet safe room or crate at first, then short positive introductions to people, sounds, and routine handling.
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