A wild raccoon with a stumpy, rounded silhouette has become one of the most talked-about animals on the internet this summer, after a short video filmed in a Seattle backyard turned him into a minor celebrity with his own night at a Major League Baseball stadium.
The raccoon, nicknamed Jimothy, first drew wide attention in July when Ballard neighborhood resident Kiana Hall posted footage of him waddling through her yard to Instagram. "He just looked like a Jimothy to me," Hall told Seattle public radio station KNKX. Neighbors later said he had actually been living in the area for at least a year, with older footage showing him as a kit alongside his mother and littermates.
Wildlife experts believe Jimothy's compact, seemingly neckless build stems from a congenital condition sometimes called short spine syndrome, in which vertebrae fuse or fail to develop typically, shortening the spine and tail. Despite his unusual shape, he appears healthy, mobile and well-fed — a fact Smithsonian Magazine attributed to his mother's evident diligence in caring for him before he struck out on his own.
He just looked like a Jimothy to me.
Kiana Hall, Ballard resident who first filmed Jimothy
From there, the tributes snowballed. Fans have painted a neighborhood mural, produced bobblehead figurines with proceeds benefiting animal charities, and gotten Jimothy-themed tattoos. Video game studios added nods to him — Guild Wars 2 introduced him as an in-game pet — and the Seattle Mariners held a "Jimothy Night" at T-Mobile Park in early August, complete with fan signage around the stadium.
City and university institutions have joined in with tongue firmly in cheek: the University of Washington gave him an honorary title and the Seattle City Council marked the occasion with a proclamation. Wildlife officials, meanwhile, have used the moment to note that raccoons with short spine syndrome are occasionally spotted elsewhere and generally survive well in the wild provided they aren't disturbed.
Jimothy has not been captured, tagged or relocated, and wildlife authorities have asked the public to keep observing him from a distance rather than approaching or feeding him, as with any wild animal drawing a crowd.
