An adventurous raccoon has become world famous after a daring climb up a skyscraper.
The mammal had thousands on edge as he made his way up the 25-storey UBS office tower in St Paul City, Minnesota. The crafty creature was dubbed “Spider-Raccoon” by bystanders and those watching his ascent on social media, and even got his own hashtag – #MPRraccoon – from Minnesota’s public radio station, who were updating followers with the raccoon’s progress.
Fortunately, when he finally made it up to the roof, the animal was rescued, meaning this story has a happy ending!
My picture from the 13th floor around noon. Hope he makes it down OK! #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/gfVWysn9iO
— Ben (@Johnson88Ben) June 12, 2018
The raccoon apparently reached the top of the skyscraper on Tuesday at roughly 3am local time, where a humane trap and cat food were waiting for him.
After the raccoon made it to safety, MPR journalist Tim Nelson told the BBC: “It was heartbreaking to see yesterday,”
“We couldn’t imagine how this would end well for him.”
The animal’s 15 minutes of fame started on Monday, when he was spotted on the roof of a two storey office block nearby.
What you’ve all been waiting for… #MissionImpossible #MPRraccoon ? @kare11 @ElleryTV @DPet_KARE11News @timnelson_mpr pic.twitter.com/SZKNem45yf
— Alicia Lewis (@alicialewisKARE) June 13, 2018
It was believed to have been trapped there for two days without access to food or water, before being dislodged by maintenance workers.
However, rather than going back to its day-to-day to life, the furry daredevil decided to jump to the UBS tower, where it began to scale the side of the building.
As it reached the window ledge on each level, the raccoon would seemingly take a break, giving office workers inside a chance to snap a photo of the clever climber.
#mprracoon was in good spirits earlier. @timnelson_mpr pic.twitter.com/wK2HzEh2bS
— Grant Kamin (@GrantKamin) June 12, 2018
James Gunn, Director of blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, even offered $1000 to charity if anyone could save the creature. The popular franchise has its own raccoon character called Rocket, voiced by A-lister Bradley Cooper, with Gunn even bringing a raccoon on set once as “research.”
Thankfully, the raccoon eventually reached top, with a celebration from anxious followers on social media. He was caught in one of the humane traps set by the city’s department of safety inspections.
The #mprraccoon just made it to the roof! Video courtesy @DPet_KARE11News pic.twitter.com/Wb5xPsANZh
— Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 13, 2018
After its capture, Nelson tweeted: “Here’s the #mprraccoon taking the easy way down, in a UBS Plaza freight elevator,” along with a photograph of the raccoon in its cage.
Earlier today (Wednesday), Wildlife Management Services – a private contractor hired to contain the creature – said they’d released it “on private property at an undisclosed location, after consultation with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.” The company shared a video of the release to their Facebook page, which has since had 33,000 views.
Hopefully he’ll take a break from scaling buildings and choose to live a more peaceful life from now on…
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