How Jimothy the Raccoon Became a Hero of the Misfits
The short-spined Seattle animal with an unfettered spirit has been honored in fan art, tattoos, and murals.
In all of its coastal, evergreen, and folkloric beauty, the city of Seattle has surprisingly appointed a common urban raccoon as its unofficial mascot in the last week. Only, the raccoon in question is anything but common — it's ✨Jimothy.✨
Jimothy, who recently went viral after he was filmed gallivanting between yards in the Ballard neighborhood, looks more like a pom-pom than a raccoon due to his unnatural physique. The rotund little thing lives with a condition called short spine syndrome — a rare congenital birth defect in which the spinal vertebrae fail to properly separate during fetal development, resulting in a severely compressed spinal column that gives Jimothy a shortened torso and little to no neck. The raccoon also has an unusually short tail that enhances his already spherical stature.
There's actually a handful of dogs with short spine syndrome who have become popular and beloved ambassadors for the condition on social media, but Jimothy stands out as a particularly unique case because he is a wild animal who isn't just surviving, but thriving as is — without direct human intervention. Equal parts ridiculous and sickeningly cute, Jimothy does everything an urban raccoon is supposed to do: climb and descend fences, scamper about, be scruffy and conniving, squeeze between tight gaps, and scavenge for food. Most importantly, Jimothy doesn't appear to be in any pain or distress due to his condition; he's simply Mother Nature's answer to the human preoccupation with Bigfoot and other cryptids.
As was the case with the baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng, the enormous king penguin chick Pesto, and the socially anxious macaque Punch, Jimothy exploded in popularity overnight as the clip of him running across a sidewalk proliferated online. Soon after, Jimothy was being honored through news segments, fan art, tattoos, local sports, an honorary doctorate, and murals, like that by local muralist Andrew Miller for the Ballard Clay pottery studio, where the raccoon had once been spotted skulking. The round raccoon has been so well-received by the city that Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck is set to issue a proclamation designating this summer as “Jimothy Summer” this coming Sunday, July 26.
Jimothy has come to represent those who feel like outliers and misfits. Plenty of artists highlight the raccoon's uniqueness and resilience in celebratory fan art reminding viewers to be comfortable with and proud of themselves.
Without his knowledge, Jimothy inadvertently became a community hero after another local artist, Ryan Henry Ward, auctioned off a painting he made of the raccoon for a whopping $6,543.21 (you read that right) and forwarded all the proceeds to the Ballard Food Bank. Ward's auction also ended up influencing Amazon, Alaska Air, and T-Mobile to match the lucky bidder's donation.
@tsame16 An icon. The @Seattle Mariners ♬ original sound - Jimothy Stan 🦝
While Jimothy has already (and unwittingly) proven himself as a model community member, his catapult into the spotlight also coincides with Disability Pride Month, effectively establishing him as a charming mascot for celebrating inclusivity, diversity, accessibility, and perseverance.
Artists and activists in the disability community have called on Jimothy's new fans to help protect and advocate for disability rights with the same fervor and love they show for the little raccoon, especially as several states are challenging Section 504, which mandates that all entities and programs receiving federal funding must equally serve people with disabilities in an integrated setting.
People have let their imaginations run wild with the documented sightings of the short-spined raccoon across Ballard, but when it comes down to Jimothy in the flesh, Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife reminds the public to love him from afar so that he, too, can remain wild. This means the following: don't feed the Jimothy, don't approach the Jimothy, don't follow the Jimothy, and do not touch the Jimothy. Or any raccoon, really.
