{"id":695763,"date":"2026-07-17T00:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695763\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T00:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:31:15","slug":"mutant-creature-named-jimothy-becomes-celebrity-in-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695763\/","title":{"rendered":"Mutant creature named &#8216;Jimothy&#8217; becomes celebrity in Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This will leave you sleepless in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>Seattleites are abuzz over sightings of a deformed raccoon whose truncated backbone gives it the appearance of a creature not of this earth.<\/p>\n<p>The stubby critter, dubbed \u201cJimothy\u201d by locals, is being tracked online as excited residents share videos of him traversing backyards and balconies in the Emerald City.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.73925781;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40002495\" width=\"436\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/jimothy-raccoon-rare-spinal-condition-134600591.jpg\" alt=\"A raccoon with a rare spinal condition runs across a grassy area next to a paved path.\" class=\"wp-image-40002495\"  \/>Jimothy, the raccoon that\u2019s become a viral sensation in Seattle, darts along a suburban yard. Instagram\/c1vrgr1&#8217;s profile picture c1vrgr1<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor our 13th anniversary, [we] were graced with the presence of Jimothy the raccoon with short spine syndrome. Praise Jimothy!!\u201d one fan captioned an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reels\/DayHOfryG7Z\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram video<\/a> showing him darting along a suburban yard and up a set of stone stairs.<\/p>\n<p>Though he hasn\u2019t been formally diagnosed, the consensus based on his appearance is that he\u2019s afflicted with short spine syndrome, a very rare congenital condition that significantly shortens the spine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Seattle\/comments\/1uxrr14\/jimothy_on_our_balcony\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Another known sighting<\/a> shows Jimothy navigating a balcony railing before squeezing between two bars and exploring for a moment before disappearing out of frame.<\/p>\n<p>The cryptid-like creature has become a regular fixture on Seattle subreddits, as well as subreddits like Weird and Creepy, garnering thousands of likes and comments.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.62282092;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40002493\" width=\"957\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/www-reddit-com-r-seattle-134600862.jpg\" alt=\"A raccoon named Jimothy on a balcony at night.\" class=\"wp-image-40002493\"  \/>Another Jimothy sighting, this time on a resident\u2019s balcony. Reddit<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the most Seattle animal possible,\u201d one Reddit user said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHot Jimothy Summer,\u201d proclaimed another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needs to be protected at all costs,\u201d another fan urged.<\/p>\n<p>So far, only a few videos of Jimothy have emerged, but as word spreads, expect to see more angles and action shots of Seattle\u2019s newest four-legged viral celebrity.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This will leave you sleepless in Seattle. Seattleites are abuzz over sightings of a deformed raccoon whose truncated&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2851,231298,90,15183,56,54,55,1384,4407],"class_list":["post-695763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-celebrity-animals","tag-science","tag-seattle","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-us-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}