Who is Jimothy, the short-spined raccoon taking over social media (and maybe your TV)

(NEXSTAR) – He is on your social feeds, on your TV screensaver, on your Google search. Airports, fire departments, and board games are using him in posts and promotions. He has his own Facebook page, Instagram account, and website.

He is, quite simply, Jimothy, the odd-shaped raccoon seen toddling around Seattle.

Videos of Jimothy began circulating online last week, though residents of the Ballard neighborhood say he has been a local for years.

What appears to be a rare spinal condition makes him look a bit more like a Furby with long legs or, perhaps more fittingly, a raccoon that was horizontally challenged. In one of the most widely shared posts, Instagram user Kiana Hall referred to the raccoon as Jimothy, a name that has since stuck. Why?

“He just looked like a Jimothy to me,” Hall told The New York Times. Veterinarian Dr. Marcie Logsdon, who teaches at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, told the outlet that Jimothy (who could be a girl; it’s hard to say without a true examination) likely has short spine syndrome.

Despite his shortened stature, Jimothy should be able to maintain “a normal life,” Julian D. Avery, an ecologist at Penn State University, told Popular Science. Minus, perhaps, his sudden stardom.

Jimothy takes on … everything

If you’ve been online in the last few days, you may have seen Jimothy everywhere without even knowing who Jimothy is.

A Google search of “Jimothy” will prompt a cartoon version of the real raccoon to scamper across your screen. (If you miss him sprinting by, you can click the paw print at the bottom of the screen to make it happen again.)

If you have Roku and let your TV time out to the screensaver of Roku City, you can see Jimothy posing on the sidewalk. You’ll need to have the original Roku City set as your screensaver, and you can adjust how quickly your TV times out under Settings, then Theme, then Screensaver wait time.

Budweiser featured Jimothy in a World Cup ad. The Seattle Mariners have, thanks to photo editing capabilities, adorned him with a hat. An official NASA account posted about Jimothy’s hometown. Jimothy received an honorary doctorate from the University of Washington and has been added as a character in a digital version of Dungeons & Dragons.

This weekend, a proclamation will be made “in his honor to commemorate Jimothy Summer,” hosted by Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck.

Despite Jimothy’s rising popularity (which he probably isn’t even aware of), officials have a warning about the raccoon.

Let him ‘live his best unbothered life’

If you’re ready to book the next flight to Seattle (something the Orlando International Airport has even recommended) to lay your own eyes on Jimothy, you may want to reconsider.

“We fell hard for Jimothy and all of his memes. But our public health veterinarian reminded us that all wildlife need some distance from humans,” Public Health – Seattle & King County wrote in a Facebook post, noting that raccoons “can carry bacteria and roundworms” and, like other wild animals, can bite. “Love Jimothy from afar so he can live his best unbothered life.”

Nearby Olympic National Park echoed the sentiments, encouraging followers to “please give wild things the space to be wild.”

“Even when they’re cute, or different, or famous,” a post from the park read, in part. “It can mean seeing an animal and knowing that it means something special to you, and that it has the best shot in life if you don’t try to get close. It’s a good way to love them.”

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