A racoon scaled 23 storeys of a skyscraper in St. Paul, Minnesota (US) on June 12 and his daredevilry (or stupidity) brought an entire nation to a standstill.
Because, you know, Americans are jobless like that.
The animal was first spotted huddled in a nook in the city’s Town Square building. When building workers tried to rescue it from falling, the racoon instead climbed around 23 storeys of the adjacent UBS building — the tallest in the city. A local news channel—MPR News—broke the story and since then, many are rooting for the poor fellow to survive with the hashtag #mprraccoon.
**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
Would you be this relaxed after climbing 21 stories up the outside of an office tower? #mprraccoon Thanks @donnelly_law for the hospitality! pic.twitter.com/SsFBZc0C0z
— Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 12, 2018
Stuck without food and water for two days, the animal mostly just chilled and groomed itself as Tweeple began pulling their hair out. The whole episode has put the entire Internet on edge.
Twitter trying to find ways to save the #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/cDam9jCa7U
— Joseph Boeding (@JoeBoeding) June 13, 2018
The ‘spider-racoon’ has inspired many artists to dedicate their art to save the animal.
Hang in there, #mprraccoon . I’m rooting for you! <3 pic.twitter.com/VH6tWBQl63
— Megan Tegeder (@mtegeder) June 12, 2018
Perry Wright has this take on the #mprraccoon. It would be Best. Tote. Bag. Ever. pic.twitter.com/2SL0hqiNMF
— Tim Nelson (@timnelson_mpr) June 13, 2018
The little guy even got a Twitter page of its own.
I made a big mistake. #mprraccoon
— The MPR Raccoon (@TheStPaulRacco1) June 12, 2018
The whole ordeal reminds us that the concrete jungle is not a safe place for stray animals.
This face reminding us that all creatures have value #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/l5twbnxxm7
— DNR (@doakrokey) June 13, 2018
The racoon then climbed down a few storeys and people then seemed to have lost their calm.
He’s going down, brave #MPRraccoon now around 16th floor down from 23rd pic.twitter.com/WuFiQN0xq2
— bengarvin (@bengarvin) June 13, 2018
Im up at midnight watching a raccoon scale a building. 2018 is weird. #MPRRaccoon
— Eric McCoy (@ShowtimeRHEC) June 13, 2018
I swear to god … if #MPRraccoon falls, we’re giving Minnesota back to Canada
— Cory McCoy (@TMT_Cory) June 13, 2018
Opens Twitter: why is my entire feed obsessed with a raccoon?
5 minutes later: come on buddy, you can do it!
10 minutes later: will no one save the poor raccoon?!#mprraccoon
— Euqinomist (@Euqinomist) June 13, 2018
I have a 7 am work flight to catch but obviously if the raccoon isn’t rescued by then, I’ll just get another job. #mprraccoon
— Matt Ritter (@mattritter1) June 13, 2018
People were just a slip away from turning into the Malian guy who scaled 4 storeys to save a baby in France.
Twitter: JUST CUT OPEN A WINDOW AND BRING HIM INSIDE ALREADY#mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/MCluIAKRBV
— David Botwick-Ries (@dbotwickries) June 13, 2018
Me following the updates of the #mprraccoon pic.twitter.com/U4S07Aba6e
— Joseph Boeding (@JoeBoeding) June 13, 2018
The racoon later scaled the side of the building again after he was lured by cat food kept by workers and firefighters present on the roof of the skyscraper.
People, you can now breathe. He has made it!
Video of the #mprraccoon making it all the way up to the roof of the UBS building where there is potentially live traps with food. The raccoon has gone 2 days without food or water!! pic.twitter.com/v7rU2OkCTH
— Keith Schubert (@keithsch94) June 13, 2018
