meet ‘jimothy,’ the most famous raccoon on the internet
2 minute read
this handi-capable furry friend known as 'jimothy' has captured the hearts of millions in his plucky underdog role.
c1vrgr1/instagram
this furry critter has beaten the odds and captured the hearts of millions in his plucky underdog role.
known as “jimothy” to his millions of online followers, this raccoon with what appears to be a spinal deformity has movements the more resemble a primate than a short-bodied raccoon with no neck.
kiana hall first posted footage of the animal hustling across a patch of grass somewhere in the suburbs of northwest seattle. within hours of hall’s post, the video went interstellar, racking up millions of views in less than 24 hours.
hall was on a walk in her neighbourhood around 8:30 p.m. early last week when she spotted the creature. initially, she thought it was a cat, but to her surprise, her video captured the soon-to-be video star emerging from under a car.
another resident of the area spotted jimothy earlier this month but didn’t think much of it at the time until all the online hoopla. that person then posted a nine-second video on reddit titled ‘jimothy on our balcony.’
his legend continued to grow when an instagram user posted a video of a younger jimothy with what appeared to be his mother and siblings.
“not a post i thought i’d be making, but as so many are also so taken with him, i’ll spread the lore from our perspective,” the person wrote. “seattle’s newest celebrity was born in our neighbor’s cedars to a racoon family that had lived there for years.
“we saw jimothy (way better than moniker than what we came up with) almost daily for months. the family used our backyard as a protected on/off ramp for their nightly outings.”
brands hop on jimothy wagon
knowing when to capture a viral sensation, the seattle mariners baseball team jumped on the hype train, naming jimothy an honorary mascot.
an ‘x’ user also posted a video titled “a win-othy for jimothy in the salmon run at the mariners game.”
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online retailer amazon even has jimothy t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies for sale, while a search of jimothy yields a google easter egg with an animation that scurries across your computer screen.
although the furry underdog has captured the hearts of millions online, toronto public health says that wildlife should be admired from an appropriate distance as they often carry rabies.
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