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Minnesota raccoon's daring skyscraper scramble transfixes internet Minnesota raccoon hailed as hero after skyscraper climb
(35 minutes later)
A daredevil raccoon in St Paul, Minnesota, has had the internet on tenterhooks after scaling 23 floors of a building for nearly a day.A daredevil raccoon in St Paul, Minnesota, has had the internet on tenterhooks after scaling 23 floors of a building for nearly a day.
The critter, dubbed #MPRraccoon after the radio station opposite the high-rise, is trending worldwide on Twitter.The critter, dubbed #MPRraccoon after the radio station opposite the high-rise, is trending worldwide on Twitter.
Crowds have been gathered at the building since he went viral, and local media are streaming his perilous climb. Crowds gathered at the building after he went viral, and local media streamed his perilous climb to the world.
Local fire officials and animal services attempted to lure the animal to safety all day. Twitter celebrated as the animal reached the roof at 03:00am (07:00 BST) where cat food inside a trap awaits.
Evan Frost, a photojournalist with Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), was still at the scene at about 02:00 (06:00 BST) local time on Wednesday morning. It had been descending the building for hours before that, as an anxious audience watched on into the night.
At that time the animal had not moved for several hours, but reports on social media suggest the raccoon successfully ascended to the building's roof just before 03:00am (07:00 BST). Evan Frost and Tim Nelson, journalists with Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), have been documenting the raccoon's journey on Twitter.
"One of my colleagues spotted the raccoon on kind of ground floor sitting on a ledge on Monday - it looked like a brown lump, almost like a cat sitting there," he told the BBC. "One of my colleagues spotted the raccoon on, kind of the ground floor, sitting on a ledge on Monday - it looked like a brown lump, almost like a cat sitting there," Evan Frost told the BBC in the early hours of Wednesday.
"We went out there at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning and saw it was a raccoon. "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."
"Two workers in the building got out a couple of long planks - sort of making a kind of ladder for it."
But that initial rescue failed - and ended up scaring the animal upwards.But that initial rescue failed - and ended up scaring the animal upwards.
It spent much of Tuesday going up and down the building's floors. It spent much of Tuesday going up and down the building's floors, occasionally napping on ledges.
"It kept going up incrementally - it would go up four or five floors then would sit on the windowsill and then we'd wait a few hours," Mr Frost said. "It was heartbreaking to see yesterday," Tim Nelson told the BBC on Wednesday. "We couldn't imagine how this would end well for him".
Raccoons are common in the US, but are usually found in alleys or riffling through rubbish bins - leading to the common animal nickname "trash panda".Raccoons are common in the US, but are usually found in alleys or riffling through rubbish bins - leading to the common animal nickname "trash panda".
Mr Frost and his colleague Tim Nelson have been overwhelmed by the reaction to their posts about the raccoon's ascent. "I was talking to a wildlife expert yesterday who said there might be a dozen or two dozen of these raccoons in every square mile here in Minnesota - they're everywhere. But you don't see them scaling office towers," Mr Nelson said.
"I think it just seems like something a lot of different people can get behind. Everyone wants to see this creature get to safety somehow. It's a very perilous situation," he told the BBC. Both men were overwhelmed by the global reaction to their posts about the raccoon's ascent.
"I think it just seems like something a lot of different people can get behind," Mr Frost told the BBC.
"It's kind of absurd that I took a couple of pictures of an animal that people usually hate and think is disgusting, and all of a sudden it has thousands of retweets and likes.""It's kind of absurd that I took a couple of pictures of an animal that people usually hate and think is disgusting, and all of a sudden it has thousands of retweets and likes."
The photojournalist laughed when asked if he had managed to get any work done away from raccoon-watch. Mr Nelson grew up in a town called Coon Rapids, named after the mammals.
"It just took over our days after it took off on social media," he said. "To think that one of these little animals would top the trending on twitter is a complete surprise to me," he said.
James Gunn, who directed Hollywood film Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured a hero raccoon, offered to donate $1,000 (£750) to charity in the name of anyone who saved it. Both men laughed when asked if they had managed to get any work done during raccoon-watch.
A Twitter account in the animal's name already has over 2,000 followers - and users online have made fan-art and even toys of the animal. Although the animal was filmed reaching the top shortly before 03:00 local time - its fate won't be fully known until animal services get up to check the traps set on the roof in the morning.
The animal has become an unlikely hero for many on Twitter - with users dubbing his unlikely success an inspiration.
James Gunn, who directed Hollywood film Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured a hero raccoon, at one point on Tuesday offered to donate $1,000 (£750) to charity in the name of anyone who was able to save the #MPRraccoon.
A Twitter account in the animal's name already has over 2,500 followers - and users online have made fan-art and even toys of the animal.
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