Who Is Jimothy? Meet the Viral Raccoon Stealing Hearts, Not Trash
Jimothy the raccoon quickly became a sensation after videos of the animal scampering around Seattle went viral due to his unique gait and apparent spinal deformity.
By Sabba Rahbar Jul 23, 2026 2:00 AM | Updated 2 hours ago
See Moo Deng, the Baby Hippo Stealing Hearts Everywhere!
The internet has a new ring leader.
Jimothy the raccoon has recently taken the world by storm after a video of the Seattle mammal went viral for the unique way in which he scampers.
The raccoon’s unusual appearance and proportions seem to be the result of a spinal deformity, which gives him a short, rounded spine and body along with long legs.
Jimothy first burrowed his way into the hearts and minds of the web when Instagram user Kiana Hall posted a video of him running in his own fast and furriest way, exclaiming in the footage, “What am I looking at?”
Hall quickly dubbed the cute creature Jimothy, telling Today in an interview published July 18, “He just looked like a ‘Jimothy’ to me. I don’t have any other explanation other than I looked at him and he looked like a ‘Jimothy.’”
Jimothy sightings have since continued around Seattle, with fans of the raccoon posting his whereabouts as he runs around the city, with one X user even sharing a video of a baby Jimothy walking around their friend’s backyard.
Since going viral, Jimothy spawned his own page on X that is dedicated to tracking every sighting of the critter.
“Jimothy has become very special to us,” the account wrote in a July 17 post to the platform. “Watching him thrive in the wild brings a lot of joy and reminds us how resilient and clever these animals are. Every sighting like this feels like a little gift.”
Storyful
Along with the account, Jimothy has been honored with a cameo on the Roku TV screensaver, a Google search Easter Egg that has him running across your screen and even a bobblehead from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. But most importantly, he will be honored by his Ballard neighborhood in Seattle with a celebration on July 26 commemorating “Jimothy Summer.”
The reception to the raccoon also means that Jimothy has joined the pantheon of famed viral animals, with person joking on X, “Moo Deng walked so Punch the Monkey could run so Jimothy could soar.”
And everyone appears to be jumping on the Jimothy train, with another person posting, “My 91 year old grandma in Illinois just asked me how Jimothy was doing.”
Still, despite the love for the raccoon, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has urged fans to not approach Jimothy, telling Seattle’s KIRO 7 that he appears capable of moving and feeding himself and does not need human intervention.
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