Raccoon set free after scaling 25-story tower

WASHINGTON - The United States breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after a scruffy brown raccoon was captured safe and sound following a perilous climb up a 25-story skyscraper in the northern state of Minnesota.

The raccoon became an internet sensation as thousands of Twitter users followed its escapades on Tuesday as it slowly inched up the side of the UBS Plaza building in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota Public Radio reporters and occupants of the building posted pictures and updates on the animal - dubbed the #MPRraccoon - as it scaled the rough surface of the skyscraper story-by-story in true Spider-Man style.

A local television station provided a livestream of the anxiety-producing journey of the animal, which apparently had been scared by construction workers at the building's base.

The raccoon's adventures caused a stir on social media as it scaled the tower, with many Twitter users voicing concern for its safety or joking about the drama as its seemingly death-defying climb was broadcast live by several TV stations. User Valdivia said her mother-in-law saw it on the news in Chile.

Among those riveted was Suzanne MacDonald, a raccoon behavior expert at York University in Toronto.

"Raccoons don't think ahead very much, so raccoons don't have very good impulse control," she said, admitting she could barely sleep she was so worried about the animal. "I don't think the raccoon realized when it started climbing what it was in for." Hollywood director James Gunn offered to donate $1,000 to charity in the name of anyone who saved the raccoon.

"I can't handle this," Gunn, the director of the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, tweeted. "Poor dude."

(The Guardians movies, incidentally, feature a brash, devil-may-care character known as Rocket Raccoon.)

Trapped at the top

The Minnesota raccoon paused at several points on narrow window ledges during its climb, even taking naps before continuing onward.

Well after midnight - when most US citizens had gone to sleep - the raccoon reached the roof and was captured in a trap set up by wildlife control officials.

Building managers tweeted a picture of the raccoon in a cage on Wednesday morning.

"After a delicious meal of soft cat food, #mprraccoon has been caught and will be picked up by Wildlife Management. Goodbye friend!" it said.

Wildlife Management Services later posted a video of the raccoon - after some prompting - leaving a cage and scampering off into the trees in the St. Paul suburbs.

AP - AFP