Raccoon makes it to the top of the 25-storey UBS Tower in St Paul, and captivates legions of fans worldwide
A raccoon who scaled the UBS Tower in Minnesota in a death-defying climb has made it safely to the top of the building after close to 20 nail-biting hours for internet viewers worldwide.
The raccoon was originally spotted on the roof of a nearby office block, and was safely removed by maintenance workers. But rather than find safety elsewhere, it jumped over to the 25-storey UBS Tower, one of the largest skyscrapers in the city, where it scaled the building – moving up, down and sometimes sideways.
MPR News, the local public radio station, helped break the story. Since then the world has followed the raccoon’s travails under the hashtag #MPRraccoon. Reporter Tim Nelson shared the news of its successful ascent.
Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr)
The #mprraccoon just made it to the roof! Video courtesy @DPet_KARE11News pic.twitter.com/Wb5xPsANZh
June 13, 2018
The Raccoon’s first brush with fame came on Monday afternoon, when he was found on the roof of the two-storey Town Square building in downtown St Paul. By the time he had been spotted by onlookers, he had been there for two days without food or water. A crew of builders removed him from the ledge he’d made his home, but the raccoon refused to head back to street level.
The raccoon’s climb seemed gravity-defying, as he scaled the vertical walls with seemingly little to grip to. Twitter was quick to dub the creature “spider-raccoon”, even though that doesn’t really scan.
As it reached the windowsill of each storey, it would often pause to take a break, delighting workers inside the building. Nelson, who had been following the story for MPR, even filmed it stretching and grooming itself.
Other local stations were livestreaming the raccoon’s movements to thousands of viewers, although hours could go by with little movement. Some of those in the building shared their pictures of its climb.
Grant Kamin (@GrantKamin)
#mprracoon was in good spirits earlier. @timnelson_mpr pic.twitter.com/wK2HzEh2bS
June 12, 2018
Ben (@Johnson88Ben)
My picture from the 13th floor around noon. Hope he makes it down OK! #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/gfVWysn9iO
June 12, 2018
Paige Donnelly law (@donnelly_law)
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
June 12, 2018
The city’s department of safety inspections has set live traps for the raccoon on the roof so it can be safely returned to ground level. On Wednesday morning the creature, though captured, was still on the roof and had been provided food. A private contractor called Wildlife Management Services has been hired to deal with the raccoon. They told local reporters they would release it “somewhere safe”.
It’s rare for a raccoon to receive such positive press in the US. Emergency services receive hundreds of calls each year about raccoons breaking into apartments or preventing people from walking down the street. In May, a man in Michigan called police after a family of raccoons crashed through the ceiling into his living room. In April, the NYPD received a number of calls from scared residents who believed they’d seen an escaped tiger wandering the streets of New York. It turned out to be a large raccoon.
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