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Just a few days after Norway soccer star Erling Haaland made headlines for bringing a taxidermy raccoon back home from the World Cup<\/a>, a Seattle raccoon with an unusually short body has become an internet sensation after a video of it scampering<\/a> across a field went viral. <\/p>\n The raccoon nicknamed Jimothy, which is thought to have short spine syndrome, is inspiring murals, art and even tattoos<\/a> \u2014 and has become, for some, a symbol of resilience<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I initially thought that he was a cat, and just got my phone out because I love cats. And then when he emerged from the car, I realized he definitely wasn’t a cat,” Kiana Hall, 33, told Reuters. Her video of the raccoon went viral after she caught him on camera July 13 in the Ballard neighborhood in northwest Seattle.<\/p>\n “I think he’s just sort of round and a silly little guy, and people just sort of need something silly and fun in their life right now.”<\/p>\n And people do seem to be having fun.<\/p>\n Jimothy was celebrated by the Seattle Mariners,<\/a> the Seattle Art Museum<\/a> and the Seattle Public Library<\/a> on social media. The raccoon will be recognized by Seattle councillor Alexis Mercedes Rinck in a ceremony next week<\/a>. The University of Washington jokingly awarded it an honourary degree<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Jimothy isn’t just a local celebrity. The story made the Manila Times<\/a> in the Philippines, where Jimothy is described as an “odd-shaped raccoon.” Australia’s ABC News<\/a> details the “cult following.”<\/p>\n And U.K. charity The Stroke Foundation joked on Threads<\/a> that seeing Jimothy relax can lower your blood pressure.<\/p>\n When Hall first posted the video, she commented: “What am I looking at?” <\/p>\n “I was seeing some kind of gray, fluffy creature that was shaped sort of like an orb with really long legs,” she told Reuters. <\/p>\n But after several commenters pointed out it appeared to a raccoon with a birth defect, she gave it a name.<\/p>\n “He looks like a\u00a0Jimothy,” Hall said.<\/p>\n The name stuck, and despite not knowing for sure whether Jimothy is male or female, so did the “he.”<\/p>\n Since then, other Seattle residents have posted videos and photos of their own sightings, including one of the raccoon walking across a balcony<\/a>, and a post of baby Jimothy from someone claiming the raccoon was born to a loving raccoon family in his neighbour’s cedars.<\/p>\n “He was so small and clumsy but his mother and siblings were always so patient and caring, keeping him from falling and sometimes just carrying him,” Ben Trammell wrote on Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n “With all the pain in our timelines [right now], I’m really loving how connected so many people feel [with] this funny little creature.”<\/p>\n Now, there are subreddits<\/a> devoted to Jimothy fandom and websites that track its sightings<\/a>. As of Monday, Hall’s video had been viewed more than 18 million times on TikTok alone.<\/a><\/p>\n Is Jimothy OK?<\/p>\n Experts have said they believe Jimothy has a congenital condition that shortened its spine.<\/p>\n “It does look quite unusual, but it is a condition that happens in other mammals as well,” veterinarian Carrie Schneider told Seattle’s KIRO 7 News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marcie Logsdon, an associate professor at Washington State University\u2019s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, told the Seattle Times<\/a> that Jimothy’s prognosis seems positive despite its short neck. <\/p>\n “The fact that he\u2019s made it to this age tells me that he\u2019s managing and that he\u2019s adapting,” Logsdon said. “I was surprised and honestly a little bit inspired that he\u2019s that resilient.”<\/p>\n But another expert, Brian Collins of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, told the New York Post<\/a> Jimothy might have a shortened life expectancy. Its malformation could make it harder to climb trees, forage for food and escape from predators, he said.<\/p>\n Regardless, the best thing people can do for Jimothy is let it be, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife told CBC News. <\/p>\n Feeding wildlife can cause animals to become habituated to humans, and can also lead to overcrowding, which can spread disease and parasites.<\/p>\n “We do encourage folks to leave the animal alone as it does appear to be getting around fine, unassisted, with [the] apparent congenital defect,” the department said in a written statement.<\/p>\n “Feeding raccoons may create undesirable situations for you, your children, neighbours, pets, and the raccoons themselves.”<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784575449_406_default.jpg\")
A person dressed as Jimothy races mascots during a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday in Seattle. (Lindsey Wasson\/The Associated Press)’He looks like a Jimothy’<\/p>\n