(6/06/03 - NEW YORK) — Stranded for two weeks atop a 253-foot amusement park tower at Coney Island, a wayward raccoon was finally lured to safety with _ what else? _ a Nathan's Famous hot dog.
"But without the sauerkraut," said Mark Blumenthal, manager of the Astroland Amusement Park, after the masked marauder was lowered to the ground in a special cage Tuesday.
Dubbed Rocky by park employees, the raccoon had climbed to the pinnacle of the observation tower two weeks ago and burgled the elevator motor room _ out of fear or an appreciation for the sweeping, 50-mile view of the Atlantic Ocean and four states.
The raccoon was first spotted two weeks ago by an elevator maintenance worker who saw "a pair of eyes looking at him" from the darkness of the motor room, Astroland employee Carol O'Donnell said.
In a check of the tower a few days later there was no sign of the animal. But last weekend, it was spotted anew, and officials at Astroland, home of the Cyclone roller coaster, decided a rescue was in order.
Blumenthal said the raccoon apparently had scaled a narrow metal ladder inside the tower. "The problem was how we were going to get him down," he said.
Astroland employee Manuel Alvarez took an animal-friendly Have-a-Heart cage, baited with the hot dog and some cat food, to the top of the tower. During the night, the hungry 9-pound procyon lotor walked into the cage, bit the bait and was snared, Blumenthal said. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
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