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.
