St. Paul Raccoon

Overview

St. Paul Raccoon refers to a raccoon in St. Paul, Minnesota that got stranded for multiple days while climbing a 23-story building, drawing the internet's attention. After hours of updates on June 12th, 2018, the raccoon was safely caught.

Background

On June 12th, 2018, social media users in St. Paul, Minnesota began tracking the climb of a raccoon on a downtown St. Paul skyscraper. The raccoon was dubbed #MPRRaccoon by Minnesota Public Radio.^[1] MPR reporter Tim Nelson tweeted images of the raccoon at noon that day.

Developments

Throughout the day, Twitter users followed the story of the raccoon. Twitter user @Johnson88Ben tweeted an image of the raccoon he'd taken at noon when the raccoon was on the 13th floor that day, gaining 4,600 retweets and 21,000 likes (shown below, left). User @efrostee tweeted a an update at 6:30 saying the raccoon was still alive and well, gaining over 2,100 retweets (shown below, right).

Animal control in Minnesota planned to lure the raccoon into a trap once it reached the roof of the building, as attempting to take the raccoon off a window ledge could potentially scare it and cause it to fall. Meanwhile, Twitter users began to joke about the raccoon. Twitter user @syntaxjunkie posted a parody of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top," gaining 480 retweets and 3,300 likes (shown below, left). User @mtegeder tweeted fan art of the raccoon, gaining over 1,200 retweets and 7,200 likes (shown below, right). Additionally, a Novelty Twitter account for the raccoon was created that day and gained over 1,100 followers.^[2]

The following morning, the raccoon was caught by Animal Control in Minnesota on the roof of the building.

Search Interest

External References