By Tim Binnall
A bizarre-looking raccoon dubbed Jimothy has become a viral sensation after it was filmed roaming around a Seattle neighborhood earlier this week. The hunchbacked critter reportedly burst onto the scene after resident Kiana Hall spotted the odd trash panda outside her home. "I got very confused at what I was seeing," she recalled, "I just have never seen any other animal like it." Capturing footage of the curious creature with her cell phone, she subsequently shared the video on social media with the fittingly unique moniker that has since stuck with the critter. Explaining how she came up with the delightful name, Hall simply mused, "he looked like a Jimothy."
Shortly after being posted online, the double-take-inducing video spread like wildfire with millions of people marveling at the wondrous-looking raccoon. A second look at the critter subsequently emerged as another resident of the neighborhood shared their home security footage of a Jimothy appearance that occurred last month. In the days that followed, the peculiar raccoon has taken the community by storm. Resident Brigitte D’autremont observed that Jimothy "kind of looks a little bit like a cryptid, but very cute. Almost a little supernatural, kind of like Bigfoot or a yeti or something." To that end, seasoned cryptozoology students may see an uncanny resemblance between the round raccoon and depictions of the mythical Squonk said to haunt Pennsylvania forests.
As for what gives Jimothy his peculiar shape, veterinarian Carrie Schneider told a local TV station that the animal appears to have "a congenital spine shortening disease." That assessment was echoed by a local veterinary professor, Marcie Logsdon, who noted that the raccoon is remarkably nimble for his condition. "The fact that he's made it to this age tells me that he's managing and that he's adapting," she said, "I was surprised and honestly a little bit inspired that he's that resilient." While Jimothy enjoys his fifteen minutes of fame, wildlife experts and authorities are understandably asking the public not to engage with the critter, no matter how badly they might want to approach the mini-celebrity for a selfie.