The internet is going wild over “Jimothy”, a raccoon with a congenital spine defect that’s been sighted multiple times around the Ballard neighborhood of late.
According to veterinarians who have seen video of Jimothy, he appears to be a young adult that is in good health and capable of fending for itself. People are starting to treat him as a mascot, with multiple sightings being reported on r/seattle. Animal services advises that if you encounter him, leave him be.
That’s all. Just wanted to share an amusing piece of local color.
I’m a little concerned that he’s walking around in broad daylight, unless that photo was taken at pre-dawn or dusk and lightened up. I’ve always heard that a raccoon that’s out and about in the daytime means it could be rabid.
If his spinal problems make it difficult for him to compete with other 'coons at night in the woods, he may find things easier in daylight urban areas.
They do have a lot of teeth, at any time and place.
I admire Jimothy’s smile and optimism in the face of disability.
I also admire the intelligence and dexterity of his species. I’ve told the story before of how years ago, when I lived in Toronto, the city introduced the first special garbage bins intended for compostable kitchen waste. They were equipped with “raccoon-proof” latches of sufficient complexity that some humans had problems with them. The raccoons did not.
In fact I imagined that in many woodland clearings there would be a Raccoon Professor with a whiteboard and a pointer giving lessons. The city eventually had to recall and replace all the bins with new ones that were built with new latches designed in consultation with raccoon experts, or possibly, actual renegade raccoons.
For some reason we have no raccoons in this area, just a lot of bunny rabbits. And, sadly, the occasional skunk.
Heh, reminds me of what a Yosemite park ranger supposedly said in response to the question of why they couldn’t come up with a completely bear-proof garbage can: “There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.” I guess that applies to raccoons too.
A story I heard second-hand, but easily believe, is of campers who left their cooler out overnight. It was ransacked by raccoons, but carefully-- there was a package of American cheese singles in there, and the raccoons had carefully unwrapped each cheese single from its plastic wrap before eating them.
Interesting. In my neighbourhood, I have noticed a huge decrease in the number of raccoons prowling around at night since the new green bins were introduced. (Could be coincidence, I suppose.)
On the other hand, our dog got sprayed by a skunk in our backyard a couple of weeks ago and she still stinks a bit.
The Tiktok that first went viral was taken about 8:30 PM Monday night, which right now is about half an hour before sunset. Since then, pictures and videos of him at various times of day and night have come forward. Someone even posted a picture that was taken in 2017, implying that Jimothy is either extremely long-lived for a wild raccoon or is just the latest in a long line of Jimothies to call Ballard home.
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