You’d have to live under a dumpster not to have heard of Jimothy, Seattle’s favorite raccoon and the internet’s newest folk hero. He has inspired nicknames like ‘King Jimothy’, as well as fan art, tattoos and even his own meme, ‘Hot Jimothy Summer’, after racking up millions of views this month. Beyond the basic cuteness of the masked bandits of his species, Jimothy has become a sensation largely thanks to his compact, adorably round shape, the apparent result of a rare condition called short spine syndrome.

Jimothy first appeared near a Goodwill store in Ballard, Washington.

“At first I thought I saw a cat under a car and wanted to get a closer look,” says Kiana Hall, the Seattle resident whose video introduced Jimothy to the world. popular science“then I realized it wasn’t shaped like a cat at all.” It wasn’t until Jimothy turned around that Hall noticed its telltale markings and realized it was a raccoon. As for the origin of his unusual name?

“To me he just looked like a Jimothy,” Hall says.

Online commentators have since compared Jimothy’s unusual appearance to a cryptid, evoking everything from Bigfoot to the Chupacabra.

It’s Jimothy’s world, and we all live in it, but his fame raises some real questions about what causes short spine syndrome, why it is rarely documented in wild animals, and what it might mean for Jimothy’s future.

So what exactly is short spine syndrome and how did it leave Jimothy with that unmistakable, adorable neckless silhouette?

What’s wrong with Jimothy? Why does it look like this?

Short spine syndrome is a rare genetic condition, says Julian D. Avery, an ecologist at Penn State University. A defective recessive gene causes the condition, meaning an animal needs two copies, one from each parent, for the syndrome to appear.

“The chances of putting two individuals with it together are generally quite rare,” Avery says, “and probably rare in part because animals with this condition will have many more challenges than a normally raised animal would have in any type of context.”

Short spine syndrome is a condition that affects the formation of a developing spine, leaving the animal with a shortened, compressed or fused set of vertebrae. Avery compares the process to rolling out a long tube of Pillsbury dough and then pressing down at regular intervals to pinch individual segments, roughly how a developing spine differentiates into different vertebrae. “This does not develop properly in animals that have these defective genes,” he says.

The additional challenges for animals with short spine syndrome likely explain why cases like Jimothy’s are rarely seen. Jimothy, however, seems to be one of the lucky ones.

“It seems to have gotten through this development process in a way that allows it to be quite successful,” Avery says. “Him or she. I don’t think anyone knows if it’s a man or a woman.”

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Will Jimothy the raccoon be okay?

Despite their unusual shape and the difficulties it could pose, Avery says animals with short spine syndrome generally have normal brain function and internal organs.

“There is no reason to think that the lungs or the brain are compromised,” he says. “I would hope Jimothy would have a normal life.”

Given how Jimothy appears in his viral videos, actively foraging, climbing and moving with apparent ease, there is real reason for optimism. Raccoons as a species tend to be equipped with this type of adaptability, Avery says.

“Raccoons are incredibly resourceful,” he says. “They are one of those species that is widespread enough that they can perform in many types of situations and be successful.”

The biggest risk for Jimothy is not his condition, Avery notes. That’s how people react to him.

“When people start feeding wild animals, they start walking around unsafely,” he says. Habitual animals are more likely to be hit by cars or removed by wildlife officials once they are deemed too tame.

“They’re not cautious enough about the threats that come their way, and then they suffer,” Avery says.

How we can help Jimothy

When it comes to intervening in situations like Jimothy’s, Avery recommends a strict hands-off approach. “I’m always in favor of letting wild animals run their course,” he says. “What you want is natural variation in a population.”

However, that doesn’t mean you should stop admiring Jimothy’s adorable circular physique from a distance, quite the opposite.

“If more people see Jimothy and do so at a respectful distance, that’s great,” Avery says. “More people have seen a raccoon and then become hooked on wanting to see a porcupine or robins nesting in their bushes. Those kinds of things really get people involved and concerned about what’s going wrong in the world around us.”

Washington’s own wildlife agency echoes Avery’s philosophy of not intervening with Jimothy watchers. In a written statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said: “We encourage people to leave the animal alone, as it appears to move well, unassisted, with the apparent congenital defect.”

That said, his fandom shows no signs of slowing down. On July 26, Seattle City Councilwoman Alexis Mercedes Rinck plans to present an official proclamation in Jimothy’s honor, commemorating what she calls ‘Summer of Jimothy,’ along with a community art contest.

Amid all the fanfare, Hall says his hope is simple: that Jimothy will continue to bring joy to people and that people, in turn, will care for him.

“It’s been a lot of fun watching Jimothy bring some joy and silliness to the world,” he says, “and I hope this encourages people to go for walks in their neighborhood and look at the wildlife around them.”

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