Stranded raccoon casually scales skyscraper, Twitter loses its mind

THE world is obsessed with #mprraccoon, the humble critter with a taste for heights who climbed 20 floors before he was rescued.

A HUMBLE raccoon has transfixed office workers and become a social media sensation by climbing more than 20 floors up an office building in the US city of Saint Paul.

The animal’s high-altitude feats, and the fact he was totally nonchalant about it, even stopping for a snooze, earned him his own hashtag and Twitter handle.

As the ordeal dragged on, the raccoon went up, went down, snoozed, reclined. And then night fell, and the world waited. And watched a live feed.

About 3am local time, the raccoon was seen making it onto the roof of the UBS Plaza, after two days without food or water.

The raccoon was found and rewarded for its daring feat with a delicious meal of soft cat food, before being picked up by Wildlife Management.

But not before Twitter went absolutely crazy over its adventures.

IT MADE THE ROOF #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/MvzH0sqtOr

— HeavensBarstool (@HeavensHawkeye) June 13, 2018

#mprraccoon will never have to pay for beer again!

— MarioLinton (@mariolinton) June 13, 2018

Our parents may have had the moon landing but we had #MPRraccoon

— Joel Teply (@joelteply) June 13, 2018

After a delicious meal of soft cat food, #mprraccoon has been caught and will be picked up by Wildlife Management. Goodbye friend! pic.twitter.com/twcBPpjOQk

— UBS Plaza (@ubs_plaza) June 13, 2018

The drama began on Monday when the raccoon was spotted on a ledge on the second floor of a building in the city’s Town Square, where it had been seemingly stranded overnight.

When someone tried to coax it down using a long pole, the raccoon instead bolted over to the nearby UBS Plaza tower and decided the only way was up, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Daredevil act: The raccoon continues its climb. Picture: Twitter

It climbed all the way up to the 22nd floor — just one floor from the top of the building.

Then it had a snooze outside the swanky office.

Oh nothing just a raccoon hanging out on the 22nd floor of UBS Plaza downtown. pic.twitter.com/XaXE9XExxD

— Tad Vezner (@SPnoir) June 12, 2018

And then, unfazed by the altitude and the fuss it was causing, it coolly climbed down a few floors.

All the while, the raccoon’s progress was charted by entranced workers in the building with video and picture updates.

When Minnesota Public Radio workers — whose building is across the street — dubbed it #MPRraccoon, a #1 trending topic on Twitter was born.

#mprracoon was in good spirits earlier. @timnelson_mpr pic.twitter.com/wK2HzEh2bS

— Grant Kamin (@GrantKamin) June 12, 2018

The action started about 11am local time, and continued well into the night.

By now the raccoon’s adventure had drawn the national news outlets, and everyone had an opinion on how to get #MPRracoon to safety.

Nothing to see here … the critter keeps climbing. Picture: Twitter

It wasn’t as simple as opening a window. Nobody was sure going down would be as easy as coming up, and others feared that falcons nesting atop nearby buildings might bring the little critter to a messy end.

He is on the ledge on our floor. He seems to be doing well. We’ve been told that the building has live traps on the roof and are trying to get him to go up there. We all just have to keep our fingers crossed.. #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/HY1PkuFKz0

— Paige Donnelly law (@donnelly_law) June 12, 2018

Here are some some updates But he is napping now pic.twitter.com/quxMjJWoyS

— Paige Donnelly law (@donnelly_law) June 12, 2018

Laurie Brickley, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Safety & Inspections, which oversees animal control, told local press the best they could do was set a live trap with food in it at the top of the building.

They were terrified anything else might shock the raccoon out of his customary cool.

He's inching down butt-first to the 17th floor #mprraccoon

— Zach Kayser (@ZWKayser) June 13, 2018

“We feel that any other measures could frighten him and he could fall,” Brickley said. “We’re hoping that since he’s gotten this far that he’ll make it to the top.”

And yes, there was even a live feed the world was watching to check the raccoon’s latest moves..

Live feed of #mprraccoon scaling a skyscraper.https://t.co/ejEb7XYnkI
C'mon little buddy, you can do it!#TopicalStorm @KennedyNation

— Thomas McLaughlin (@DangerKittyTom) June 13, 2018

Settling in for a snooze. Picture: Twitter

Naturally, it wasn’t long before the raccoon had its own Twitter handle. Picture: Twitter

Originally published as Stranded raccoon casually scales skyscraper, Twitter loses its mind