ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A raccoon that captivated St. Paul and the internet Tuesday while scaling a skyscraper was starting to make its way down late Tuesday night, CBS Minnesota reports. Tuesday afternoon, the raccoon had stopped on a ledge more than 20 stories up. At about 10:30 p.m. CT, the raccoon began to descend from the 23rd floor, making it to the 17th story. But at some point, the critter reversed course again, apparently climbing from a window ledge to the very top, and was on the roof, out of sight. There was no word on whether it made its way to a live trap on the roof with some very aromatic cat food it was hoped would lure the raccoon to safety. View image on Twitter It all started at about 11 a.m. Tuesday when Minnesota Public Radio reporter Tim Nelson noticed the fuzzy friend trapped on an overhang near the bottom of the UBS Building in downtown St. Paul, CBS Minnesota reports. "The maintenance staff came out with some two-by-fours screwed together and pushed them up to the raccoon, thinking that he would run down the boards onto the street and escape," Nelson said. But when raccoons get scared, their instinct is to go up — and that is exactly what this one did. Looking like a smaller, hairier version of Spiderman, the raccoon was able to scale almost the entire building, finally stopping to rest outside the Paige Donnelly Law Firm on the 23rd floor. "We have seen him pace back and forth and sniff, but he hasn't moved," attorney Sheila Donnelly-Coyne told CBS Minnesota. "He might just be tuckered out from the climb right now." There is not a whole lot that St. Paul Animal Control can do because a rescue mission would be too dangerous for both the raccoon and the workers. "This raccoon has to rescue itself," Nelson said. "That's the only option right now." Minnesota Public Radio branded the raccoon with the hashtag #mprraccoon, which became the top trend on Twitter. The woodland creature also had its own Twitter account, with one tweet saying, "I made a big mistake." Many feared for the raccoon's safety. 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<doc-sep>The building-scaling raccoon in Minnesota who ascended to impressive heights of internet stardom has been rescued. But not before it amassed a huge following. MPRraccoon — as the raccoon is now known on Twitter — captured widespread attention as people online followed its adventurous heroics when it climbed a 25-story building in St. Paul, Minn. Naturally, people drew superhero comparisons as they took to Twitter to urge the furry adrenaline seeker on. That’s because an animal this plucky is the only drama worth watching. As we all shared the thrill, the raccoon’s travails were immortalized in fan art, and people bonded to the raccoon as they shared experiences of their own when it comes to losing our way. It all started because the raccoon was stranded on a different building nearby on Monday, according to Minnesota Public Radio. And the first times that the St. Paul Fire Department and building workers tried to rescue it with a makeshift ladder did not pan out. In fact, it wasn’t until late Tuesday night that the raccoon began to make its way down from the seventeenth floor slowly. Relive the tale of unbridled determination, boundless ego, and 2018 stunting in the video above. Thankfully, blessedly, the raccoon is safe. A reporter and the building authorities were kind enough to live-tweet the rescue. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Contact us at letters@time.com.<doc-sep>"We went out there at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning and saw it was a raccoon. Two workers in the building got out a couple of long planks - sort of making a kind of ladder for it."<doc-sep>In the early evening, the raccoon set up shop on the 23rd floor. By then, Twitter users were brainstorming ways to rescue it; a man was attempting to fly a drone toward it; and the Star-Tribune had written an explainer detailing how raccoon claws allow the animals to scale buildings.<doc-sep>
After a perilous journey that captured the attention of thousands, a brave raccoon has made it to the top of a Minnesota skyscraper. The raccoon, who became stranded on the ledge of a building in St. Paul, climbed a 25-story tower and turned into an internet celebrity overnight. The saga started Monday, when the animal was spotted in a shallow recess of a wall on a Town Square building, Minnesota Public Radio's KNOW-FM reports. A maintenance crew attempted to help the raccoon by offering it a makeshift ladder. That didn't work — it scared the animal to a nearby office tower, where it began its death-defying ascent. Tuesday afternoon, local coverage of the climb trended on Twitter with #mprraccoon, and the world began rooting for the little critter. People became concerned it might not make it up the UBS Tower. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn even tweeted he would donate $1,000 to help rescue the raccoon. But, an attempted rescue is what sparked this dangerous feat. “The best thing is to leave him alone," Laurie Brickley, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections, told the Star Tribune Tuesday. Animal control workers did set live traps on the tower's roof, believing that would be the safest option for capture, MPR reports. Then, rescuers could bring the critter back down to safety. Windows on the building do not open, workers said. As of Tuesday evening, the raccoon had climbed to the 23rd floor. Around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, live feeds showed the raccoon reached the roof. A Twitter account following the frightened raccoon's journey declared "I made it!" The raccoon was captured in a live trap, a law firm occupying the top floor of the building told MPR reporter Tim Nelson. Rescuers plan to release the raccoon to safety, hopefully far away from any tall buildings. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets