A raccoon is scaling the side of a tall skyscraper, and it's incredibly stressful

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

This story is developing.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un captivated the world on Tuesday morning with a historic summit that seemed to lower the prospect of a devastating global war. Not long after, a Minnesota raccoon captured some of the attention and seemed to raise the prospect of a collective national heart attack.

The masked animal did so by scaling a St. Paul, Minn., skyscraper, a la Spider-Man, and in the process riveting — and terrifying — legions of humans who followed online. By late Tuesday morning, the critter was spotted a few stories up on a window ledge, its brownish body just a smudge on the building’s concrete and mottled stone exterior.

By lunchtime, Minnesota Public Radio reporter Tim Nelson tweeted, the raccoon had climbed 12 stories up the UBS Tower — and things were getting stressful. It had gotten stranded on a neighboring building two days before, Nelson said, “likely on an errant mission to raid pigeon nests on the skyway.” And it apparently decided that the only way to go was up.

Soon the travels of the animal, dubbed #MPRraccoon, were being tracked nationwide. The local CBS affiliate began live-streaming the journey.

Link to tweet

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Where is he now?

[unblock]

2. here's the latest i could find:

https://twitter.com/timnelson_mpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor


For those of you worried about #mprraccoon: Animal control folks have put live trap on tower roof with aromatic food, hope raccoon smells it and can make its way to the roof, be captured and safely brought down to the ground. Not much else to do but wait and hope.

[CatWoman]

17. good

poor little fellow

[tblue37]

56. This is a funny cartoon of him:

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[CatWoman]

68. LOL!!

Thta's very cute

[brooklynite]

5. Last sighted on the 22nd floor

[cwydro]

3. Whoa!

[maxsolomon]

4. My palms are sweating thinking about that poor vermin.

Keep going, vermin!

[ornotna]

7. !

[Cattledog]

6. Now on the 20th floor...updated 23rd floor.

Food has been placed on the roof to entice him/her to keep climbing.

[B2G]

8. Why don't they drop a net

To make it easier for him to climb up?

[MountCleaners]

9. Too alarming?

Maybe too much of a human presence? He or she has been climbing this long, I'm sure it's used to it.

[smirkymonkey]

10. How many stories is the building?

I hope the little guy makes it. I wonder what made him decide to climb in the first place. Very unusual.

[herding cats]

12. 25 stories.

I think he's going to make it!!

[smirkymonkey]

16. Oh good! He's almost there!

Hopefully he's made it by now!

[herding cats]

18. Last I heard he was taking a breather.

?w=1020

This article says he's on the second to top floor now taking a nap. It also says the 22 floor is the second to last floor where he stopped to sleep, so I was wrong about it being 25 floors.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/06/12/raccoon-climbs-st-paul-mn-office-building-ubs/

[oberliner]

11. Why would they want to entice him to keep climbing?

[B2G]

14. Because none of the windows open

And he's on the 23rd floor of a 25 floor building.

[oberliner]

15. That makes sense

Thanks!

[Blue_Tires]

13. Meh... There's tens of millions more where he came from

[nolabear]

30. You too. And your family. And mine.

[dustyscamp]

19. Rocket just wants to get fit for Avengers 4

[bdamomma]

20. Reporter is kind of lost in the report

CBS affiliate

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/06/12/raccoon-st-paul/

[csziggy]

21. Report is that he was caught safely!

Link to tweet

Dan Williams
‏ @Lov2rok
6h6 hours ago

Replying to @timnelson_mpr @solace

I can officially report that “Rocky” was safely brought down! I have proof with my own 👀’s

There are other photos on the thread of the truck leaving the building - recognizable by the pebbled surface and rounded verticals.

[Demovictory9]

22. yay! I couldn't even watch the video

[csziggy]

23. I know - I hate heights and was worried about the poor thing

That's why I HAD to find out if they caught him - otherwise I would have nightmares about falling.

[Adsos Letter]

25. No, he is apparently settling in for the night.

Link to tweet

[csziggy]

45. Hunh - Maybe there were two raccoons?

Here is the other tweet with photo:

Link to tweet

Dan Williams @Lov2rok

pic.twitter.com/32yhZKUvBH
1:52 PM - Jun 12, 2018

If you look the the left of the pic, the style of building is identical to the one the raccoon was climbing.

Or maybe Don Williams is a liar and these are shots he got of a different raccoon capture on a different day. He claims to be a delivery driver, making a delivery to that building and posted his schedule:

[blogslut]

47. I just watched a live feed of a raccoon climbing to the rooftop of the Minneapolis UBS building

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2018, 07:17 AM - Edit history (1)

I don't know what the other business is so there's that.

[csziggy]

48. Yes - I just read far enough down this thread to get to the live feed

So definitely not the same raccoon as in the cage in the truck!

I hope he can make it to the roof where they have the trap so he can get down safe.

[blogslut]

49. The critter is on the roof.

Link to tweet

[brooklynite]

26. So, now he has to start all over again?

[Adsos Letter]

27. He/She is still up there.

https://www.facebook.com/CBS58/videos/10157612659877907/?hc_ref=ARQRqGKdd_FQId5L8rAN7Vm6qRit_C7LlNRiKQDwhkjh0SO8BTXeXOqMZthq-AftY-Q

[nolabear]

33. They're still tweeting about it being there, inc. the stations.

Who knows...Twitter is its own parallel universe.

[greyl]

37. Twit has corrected himself

Link to tweet

[Vinca]

50. Poor thing. Hope he can go back to the woods to live.

[zanana1]

53. I think we were more stressed than the raccoon! nt

[StarryNite]

62. Geez!

Looks like they just threw the cage in the back of the truck.

[MountCleaners]

24. The "live" feed on Twitter is still showing it sleeping

I'll wait until the news confirms this. That "rescue" was a little quick.

I'm starting to feel for the little bugger and I HATE raccoons, they were always the terror of my dogs.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

28. Show Off

[GulfCoast66]

29. WTF. Would you all root for a rat?

Vermin are vermin. If he makes it up and is trapped he will be euthanized. Would be more humane if he fell.

This is not someone’s pet dog here. Raccoons carry rabies and should be avoided in urban situations.

[MountCleaners]

32. I hate 'em too

One climbed down my chimney and terrorized my dog. Their claws are enormous.

But this little guy (or gal) is soooo cute!

[ret5hd]

34. Crass sentiment. I usually find that such attitudes...

correlate with levels of overall kindness.

[Tipperary]

51. This. eom

[geardaddy]

73. +1

[Buns_of_Fire]

46. Interesting question. Let's get Trump to try it and see what happens.

Tell him his Noble (sic) Prize is on the roof and all the elevators are out of service.

[Generic Brad]

31. I used to live in that building across the street

If I were still living there, I could have been filming this adventure. There is usually a peregrine falcon nest on the top of the building he is climbing. Their chicks may be the prize he is trying to reach.

[nolabear]

35. That little bugger is climbing back down.

I hope to God wildlife rescue is waiting at the bottom.

[Adsos Letter]

36. Appears to be climbing back down.

Currently at about the 18th floor. https://twitter.com/timnelson_mpr

[greyl]

38. Twitter live feed, raccoon currently resting on ledge:

Link to tweet

[ProudLib72]

39. This is driving me nuts! Now it's too dark to see him

They think they know which window he's in, but it's too dark to tell for sure. Someone was shining a spotlight. Still couldn't see him.

[radical noodle]

40. Best #mprraccoon tweet

Link to tweet

If you had a choice between rescuing Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell or #MPRraccoon from the ledge of a tall building, what would you feed MPR Raccoon after you both safely returned to the ground?

[greyl]

42. On the move again, going up!

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1gqxvXkjzdOGB

[greyl]

43. Just made it to the roof! nt

[blogslut]

44. I would imagine it will stay up there until it's trapped.

Cross fingers. What a little champ!

[FSogol]

54. I used to do that all the time:

[FSogol]

55. Should we be concerned that DU's raccoon hasn't checked in here?

Hope he's ok.

[raccoon]

61. I'm so glad he made it. I was going to hide this thread

I’m so glad he made it. I was going to hide this thread ——afraid of what might happen.

[HAB911]

57. They have the ability to go where they want

I have given up fighting them. I put an electric fence crisscrossing my grape arbor, 4000 volts, didn't slow them down one bit, although I'm not sure why or how. I have seen them in the top of one of my 70' tall palms at night. I have watched them walk headfirst down a banana plant just like waling on level ground. I have given up trying to even dissuade them.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

58. UPDATE: A raccoon that scaled more than 20 stories of a high-rise office building in MN is on roof

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2018, 10:26 AM - Edit history (1)

The Associated Press Retweeted:

UPDATE: A raccoon that scaled more than 20 stories of a high-rise office building in Minnesota has made it to the roof. http://apne.ws/wYyc7ZP #odd

Link to tweet

[treestar]

59. Why did they have to start out about the Dotard?

This has nothing to do with him, yet they have to throw him a little love and attention.

[herding cats]

60. Final update: Raccon caught and had a nice dinner of soft cat food.

Link to tweet

That was a lot of work for a can of kitty food!

[ProudLib72]

64. I'm glad he got some food for all his trouble!

Two days of death defying climbing. He deserved something in return!

[herding cats]

67. Right?!

I'm betting wherever he ends up next, he'll be sticking to dumpsters and trash cans for his noms.

[jalan48]

63. What a brave little guy.

[FSogol]

65. I think you meant, what a stupid little guy. There has to be easier ways to get cat food.

[jalan48]

66. LOL-well, yes that too, but once he embarked on his journey he was very brave.

[ProfessorGAC]

69. And The Options Were What?

They probably have a good enough sense of height to know that it was to climb and not let go. Once it was at the 5 floor or so, just dropping was not an option. From 50 feet, the fall would have that critter hitting the ground at around 38 miles an hour.

That would be bad!

[jalan48]

70. Splat! Better to keep climbing.

[ProfessorGAC]

71. You Bet!

Reminds me of the old "best way to get out of a hole..." saying.

Except in this case, it's the opposite, because once above about 40 feet, it doesn't much matter if you keep going up.

[MountCleaners]

72. A new feminist hero!

Raccoon is female!

https://www.vogue.com/article/mprraccoon-is-a-girl-and-a-hero