High-Climbing Raccoon Finally Reaches Top Of St. Paul Skyscraper And America Exhales

It reached the roof!

A raccoon who captured the nation's attention by climbing 20 stories up the side of a skyscraper in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday reached the roof of the building overnight to the delight of the internet.

Tim Nelson of Minnesota Public Radio, who has been covering the high-altitude drama, tweeted the news just after 3:45 a.m. Eastern time.

There's a trap set on the roof, but so far, it's not known if the raccoon has been captured.

EARLIER: It was dubbed the #MPRraccoon because Minnesota Public Radio, whose offices are in a nearby building, documented the animal's long, strange trip. So did other concerned animal lovers:

As the raccoon climbed higher and higher on Tuesday, animal welfare officials hoped that it would reach the roof of the UBS Plaza building so it could be trapped. But overnight, the nocturnal mammal thwarted that plan by beginning to descend. The wily creature climbed down to the 17th floor, where observers said it appeared to be resting.

But it changed course one more time and climbed up to the roof.

Many people followed the raccoon's adventures and half a dozen Twitter accounts purporting to represent the animal were launched. Even Jake Tapper of CNN commented on the situation:

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