The moment that the MPR Raccoon triumphantly reached the top of St. Paul’s UBS Tower at around 2:50am local time in Minnesota Gif : KARE 11 The MPR Raccoon has safely made it to the roof. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you missed quite a day on Twitter yesterday. Advertisement Twitter users were captivated yesterday while watching the perilous journey of a small raccoon as it scaled a 23-story office tower in St. Paul, Minnesota. Local reporters at Minnesota Public Radio dubbed it the #MPRraccoon and many people went to bed last night unsure of the little critter’s fate. And while we’re still waiting on word about whether animal control has successfully captured it, at least the poor raccoon isn’t pulling any more Spider-Man hijinks. Or Mission Impossible hijinks, as it were. Update: MPR Raccoon is safe and has been captured on the roof! The raccoon was first spotted on Monday in downtown St. Paul near the Town Square building just a couple of stories up. On Tuesday, maintenance workers tried to coax it down, but the raccoon became frightened and started scaling the side of the nearby UBS Tower. Advertisement Office workers in the UBS building started posting photos on Twitter to provide updates as they saw the raccoon scale the skyscraper. The animal was clearly hungry and tired, but kept climbing anyway. By evening, the journey of the MPR raccoon had become an internet sensation with write-ups around the globe. Social media users had become heavily invested in the fate of this little guy. Advertisement Local TV news station KARE11 in Minnesota started streaming the raccoon’s movements and MPR was constantly updating its story throughout the day on Twitter and Facebook. By the time it had reached the 23rd floor, people weren’t sure if it was going to make it to the roof. As MPR’s Tim Nelson reports, animal control officers put a live trap on the roof with aromatic food so that once it made its way up there it could be captured and safely brought down to the ground. As you can see from the livestream video by local TV news station KARE 11, MPR Raccoon reached the top of the building at around 2:50am local time in Minnesota. But we’re still waiting for any word on what condition the raccoon might be in. Advertisement The raccoon gave people something to root for, but it sure was a perilous journey. If something bad happened to that raccoon now I think we’d all just have to crawl back into bed for the day. Advertisement We’ll update this post when we know more from St. Paul Animal Control. [MPR and KARE 11] Update, 8:45am: UBS Plaza just tweeted a photo of MPR Raccoon! The little guy is safe and will be picked up by Wildlife Management! Advertisement What a relief! Update, 9:35am: Apparently the raccoon is still on top of the roof, but is eating and will reportedly be released “somewhere safe” soon. Advertisement Update, 11:21am: MPR reporter Tim Nelson has some more updates from UBS Tower: Advertisement<doc-sep>Every once in a while, a story comes around that reminds us of the sheer power of grit and determination. This time, it is a raccoon that climbed a UBS Plaza building in St. Paul, Minnesota. The saga of MPR Raccoon — or #MPRraccoon, as it became known on Twitter — began when people spotted a lonely raccoon stuck on the ledge of a building in downtown St. Paul, including employees of Minnesota Public Radio, who carefully documented his plight. This poor raccoon apparently got itself stranded on a ledge of the Town Square office building in downtown St. Paul, likely on an errant mission to raid pigeon nests on the skyway over 7th Street. It's been there for two days now, without food or water. @mprnews pic.twitter.com/fVI5pmdCWq — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 Tim Nelson, a reporter at MPR, said the building’s maintenance workers had tried to rescue the raccoon by building a makeshift ladder to try to lure it back down to the ground. He made a run for it! Still stuck though. pic.twitter.com/8Z7KTK8K1y — Evan Frost (@efrostee) June 12, 2018 It didn’t work. Instead, the raccoon fled to a neighboring building — the 25-story UBS Plaza — and, in a high-stakes gambit, began scaling the side of the concrete tower with his little raccoon paws. I don't know if I can watch this much longer. The #mprraccoon is scaling the UBS Tower. Now 12 stories up. pic.twitter.com/MaP35MLo9j — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 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 made it about 20 stories, according to the New York Times, though it took a break along the way to stretch out and take in the views of downtown St. Paul. 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 The #mprraccoon has arisen from his nap and is climbing again. pic.twitter.com/K1popKu2bF — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 The raccoon reportedly settled on the 23rd floor sometime late Tuesday afternoon for a nap. Animal control officials put food and a trap on the roof in hopes of enticing the raccoon a few stories up, according to MPR. But otherwise, the raccoon just relaxed, impervious to (or maybe all too aware of?) the humans worried about the fate of a woodland creature best known for breaking into trash cans and having rabies. The hashtag #MPRraccoon began trending on Twitter, and parody accounts popped up. A local CBS affiliate set up a live stream, according to the Washington Post. 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 The #mprraccoon is doing a little grooming now that he's a social media star. You know, on a 23rd floor window ledge. @MPRnews pic.twitter.com/pGcwh7OJ6L — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 The raccoon finally stirred around 10 pm and began ping-ponging between stories, climbing up, then down, then back up. 10:05 pm update: #MPRraccoon is on the move. Just climbed up to the vents above the top row of windows pic.twitter.com/KTBYZ4V3EK — Andrew Krueger (@akpix) June 13, 2018 Finally, the raccoon turned and climbed upward, reaching the top of the building in the early morning hours before dawn. Here it is, #MPRRaccoon’s valiant climb to the top of the UBS Center in Downtown St. Paul, this morning. @KARE11 @MPRnews pic.twitter.com/ot1DPNeRF5 — D.P. (@DPet_KARE11News) June 13, 2018 The raccoon scaled a 25-story building and got everyone to stop talking about North Korea, only to find itself in a cage eating cat food — but safe. 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 Here's the #mprraccoon taking the easy way down, in a UBS Plaza freight elevator. pic.twitter.com/Tj8hDlXWMB — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 13, 2018 The confinement was temporary, however: The raccoon was released in a suburb of the Twin Cities, according to Wildlife Management Service, which posted the video of the animal’s scamper to freedom. MPR Raccoon Release! All we can say is WOW and thank you to everyone for all of the kind words and support surrounding our business. We are so proud to be a part of this journey and wanted to share safe the release of the #MPRraccoon ! She was released on private residential property in the southwest suburbs of the Twin Cities with permission from the homeowner. We did consult with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota (WRC) prior to release and we had determined that the raccoon was safe to release. Again, thank you to everyone for your support! Posted by Wildlife Management Services on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 The raccoon, it turns out, was a 2-year-old female, whom officials described to the New York Times as “a little skinny but in good shape,” though apparently a bit tired from the climb. Experts said raccoons climb when they’re stressed. “Raccoons don’t think ahead very much, so raccoons don’t have very good impulse control,” Suzanne MacDonald, a raccoon behavior expert at York University in Toronto, told the Associated Press. “I don’t think the raccoon realized when it started climbing what it was in for.”<doc-sep>The raccoon who caught the attention of thousands around the world as he climbed a skyscraper in St. Paul, Minnesota, is now safe. The MPR Raccoon, first found by Minnesota Public Radio reporter Tim Nelson, was stuck on a ledge of a nearby building Monday. When a maintenance crew tried to help the raccoon get down from the ledge Tuesday, he jumped to the nearby UBS Plaza building and climbed another 20 stories, according to the public radio station. The little guy's journey came to an end on Wednesday morning. The law firm at the UBS building confirmed to Nelson that the raccoon has been safely caught. "A law firm in the office tower—whose window ledge housed the raccoon for a number of hours Tuesday—says that building management told them the animal had been trapped," Nelson tweeted. The UBS tower also tweeted the little climber was able to eat some cat food before he was caught. "After a delicious meal of soft cat food, #mprraccoon has been caught and will be picked up by Wildlife Management. Goodbye friend!" the UBS tower tweeted on Wednesday. Images and videos of the raccoon's climb went viral on social media. According to MPR, the little daredevil was able to reach the roof of the building by 2:45 a.m. Many people watching the animal's climb were worried he could fall. "In our office we are just glad he is safe. We were all worried about him," Sheila Donnelly-Coyne, an attorney who works on the 23rd floor of the UBS building, told NPR. A parody Twitter account for the little climber tweeted about his accomplishments and thanked his fans after he got to the top of the building. "I MADE IT!!! I'd like to thank God, the great people of Minnesota and the Wu-Tang Clan. Now someone come get me. I'm on the roof," the parody account wrote.<doc-sep>
**Record scratch** **Freeze frame** "Yup, thats me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. Well, it all started when . . ."#mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/UI6oMtoNbg — Ohidur Choudhury (@ochoudhury22) June 13, 2018 We held off on posting about the wall-scaling raccoon that’s become locally famous in Minnesota until we were sure she was safe and healthy. Good news on that front. The #MPRraccoon has been rescued and returned to nature, ready to steal donuts and phones, have her little mind blown by the intrinsic properties of cotton candy, inspire movie character designs, or whatever other shenanigans a raccoon is wont to do. The saga of the MPRraccoon started on Monday, when this intrepid trash panda was spotted chilling in a niche in the wall of the Town Square building in St. Paul, Minnesota. The next day, Minnesota Public Radio picked up the story: This poor raccoon apparently got itself stranded on a ledge of the Town Square office building in downtown St. Paul, likely on an errant mission to raid pigeon nests on the skyway over 7th Street. It's been there for two days now, without food or water. @mprnews pic.twitter.com/fVI5pmdCWq — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 Office workers attempted to rescue her, but she escaped to the adjacent 25-story UBS Tower and began climbing, while employees with windows that didn’t open just had to watch her go and hope for the best: My picture from the 13th floor around noon. Hope he makes it down OK! #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/gfVWysn9iO — Ben (@Johnson88Ben) June 12, 2018 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 The #mprraccoon is doing a little grooming now that he's a social media star. You know, on a 23rd floor window ledge. @MPRnews pic.twitter.com/pGcwh7OJ6L — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018 Some people on Twitter didn’t want to deal with the heartbreak if the raccoon didn’t make it. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn even offered a reward for her rescue: I’m not currently emotionally prepared to follow a news story about a raccoon in peril, but thanks for the offer Twitter. — Georgia Hardstark (@GHardstark) June 13, 2018 I'll donate a thousand bucks to the non political charity of choice to anyone who saves this raccoon. I can't handle this. Poor dude. https://t.co/2F5reAKkKa — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 12, 2018 Local news stations KARE11 and WCCO set up livestreams, and animal rescue workers set out wet cat food and traps on the roof. The raccoon started her descent: The #mprraccoon is that little dark spot up on the building. He's coming down, one floor at a time. Four stories so far. pic.twitter.com/emHwCh8gts — Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 13, 2018 But then she changed her mind and headed towards the roof instead, reaching the top early Wednesday morning: Then we waited to hear if the story would have a happy ending. Luckily, the raccoon is now somewhere in the southwest suburbs of the Twin Cities.