r/Seattle • u/bailey757 • Jul 17 '26
Animals Jimothy Sr., circa October 2023
The Jimothy gene has been running strong in Ballard for years
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u/pwndaytripper Jul 17 '26
Considering lifespan of a raccoon, could be the same one
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26
My thought, too. Nice to think there's some evidence he's doing OK and other raccoons treat him normally.
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Jul 17 '26
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u/speciate Ballard Jul 17 '26
You wouldn't say that if you knew what "normal" raccoon-to-raccoon treatment looks and sounds like.
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u/RingoBars Love slightly after the Rip Jul 17 '26
Iād reckon most of us are. We been doing it for 20,000 years at least, caring for the injured or ill. Lot of people sucked at it back in the day, some still suck at it, but itās one of best qualities (in those that possess it)!
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u/bailey757 Jul 17 '26
You think so? My extensive research suggests it's rare for them to live much longer than 3 years in the wild. But I guess living in Ballard is a bit less wild than say, a national forest with animal predators about- although I'd guess there's really no more dangerous predator to them than a human in an automobile
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u/government_not_ok Jul 17 '26
Itās good to know Ballard coyotes donāt fuck with raccoons, Jimothy a chad.
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u/Slumunistmanifisto That sounds great. Letās hang out soon. Jul 17 '26
Raccoons is mean and tough. Also sally the house cat is depressed, let her out for a night stroll...
-Coyote with a mustache.
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u/reggisboss Jul 17 '26
Local coyotes in general don't fuck with much. They mostly eat trash, and rarely even go after rabbits.
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u/kai712 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Thatās sad, I didnāt know they only have an average 3 year lifespan.
Perhaps itās a different raccoon though, as this Seattle Times article says; āMarcie Logsdon, professor at WSUās Veterinary Teaching Hospital, says the raccoon was likely born this yearā8
u/pwndaytripper Jul 17 '26
Reminds me of the wildly different age estimates I got for a shelter cat I adopted
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26
We found the person who pays for Seattle Times. Want to excerpt?
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u/kai712 Jul 17 '26
I donāt actually, I guess it was a gifted article I found on this subreddit. Hereās a link with no paywall
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26
It's a pretty rare condition, to the point where vets don't have an exact estimate for the prevalence in dogs. (Don't believe Google AI!) So I guess to me, the idea that this is the same raccoon seems more statistically probable than the idea that the same very rare birth defect affected two different raccoons in the same part of Seattle in the same three year time period.
Occam's razor and all that. But I'd be curious to see a study with actual estimates of prevalence if anyone can find one.
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u/SuitableDragonfly Columbia City Jul 17 '26
It's not a birth defect, it's a genetic disorder. Which means that if there's one raccoon with it, there's likely to be a bunch of other raccoons in the same area that at least have a gene related to it, even if they don't express the trait.
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26
The terms are not mutually exclusive. It's a structural abnormality with a genetic cause. There's not nearly enough data to estimate prevalence, which was my main point.
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u/SuitableDragonfly Columbia City Jul 17 '26
And my point is that regardless of how prevalent it is, if it's genetic, that raccoon is very likely to be related to some other raccoons that also have this gene, because that's how genetic inheritance works.Ā
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26
I mean, given the total absence of any info/data whatsoever, it's all speculation at this point. We don't know the prevalence, we don't even know how many raccoons there are in Ballard/Seattle.
I mean, I'd love to hear more about why the biologist interviewed by the Seattle Times assumed this particular raccoon is less than a year old. Please do elaborate if you have a DVM or PhD that makes your speculation more informed than everyone else's.
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u/SuitableDragonfly Columbia City Jul 17 '26
I would assume they thought that because they are personally very familiar with raccoon behavior and know how to tell how old a raccoon is based on video footage. That's the usual reason why a biologist would know something about a wild animal. Not exactly sure why you think you need an advanced degree to understand this?
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u/Kaffrogato Jul 30 '26
Theres videos of one of these racoons as a baby from 2025, so it's at least two.
The other comment is right, could be that there is inbreeding in the area, or could be that the genetucs underlying is common in a family in that area.Ā
Obviously there isn't enough data to say it's exact prevelance in every region,Ā but we can make some reasonable inferencesĀ
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 30 '26
Yes. Check the date--this was a comment made before a lot of additional videos/expert commentary came out.
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u/BuoyantEntropy Jul 17 '26
would you clarify what you mean by āmy extensive researchā?
have you tracked individual raccoons in various environments over their entire lifespans ?
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u/LDub47 Jul 17 '26
Someone posted Jimothy's baby videos on Insta. We need them to share the timeline!
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u/Lonny_loss Jul 17 '26
You will find 100x more raccoons in Ballard than in any national forest
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u/janeandbela āØšø Jimothy is out there š¦āØ Jul 18 '26
We have ALL the crows and trash pandas. I love my neighborhood.
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u/Less_Likely Snohomish County Jul 17 '26
3 years is due to predation, disease, and road accidents. If a raccoon is not killed by that means, they live 5+ years and can live up 12-13 years before old age kicks in.
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u/pwndaytripper Jul 17 '26
I mean, itās July 2026 so it hasnāt been 3 years yet. Right?
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u/Furt_III International District Jul 17 '26
Raccoons can live to be 20 if other factors don't take it out by then.
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u/Ok-Character-3779 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
About 2 years, 9.5 months by my count.
Edit: I could have sworn the title/post said something about Halloween...
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u/SuitableDragonfly Columbia City Jul 17 '26
The person the Times interviewed seemed to think he'd been born in the last year, though. This one also seems significantly less spry.
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u/BangarangLex Jul 17 '26
This isnāt Jimothy. Thereās new video of him as a baby and the guy filming said it was a year ago.
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u/Sentinel-Wraith Jul 21 '26
People had more recent shots of a baby with the same condition, so it likely is more than one.
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u/BangarangLex Jul 17 '26
Idk if thatās Jimothy. Our boy has legs for days.
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u/possiblylallorona Jul 17 '26
Maybe itās one of his offspring? Or his parent since Jimothy is apparently younger. Or sibling. Can you imagine a whole gaze of Jimothyesque raccoons.
Had to google to learn a group of raccoons was called a gaze. That doesnāt seem to fit. They should be called a Fluff or something.
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u/PensiveObservor Jul 17 '26
Once youāve seen a mama with her cubs looking down at you from a tree at night, youāll know. Very reflective eyes ALL gazing at you.
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u/Desolation_Nation āØšø Jimothy is out there š¦āØ Jul 17 '26
Iām just happy to know heās not alone
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u/Intrvrtd_Advntr9709 Jul 17 '26
I have a Jimothy of my own that comes to my door every night in the CDš
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u/pnw_2hon Jul 17 '26
Is it a Jimothy summer?
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u/bluecoastblue Jul 17 '26
Our summers are big enough for Hot Rat & Jimothy--a Seattle parade of beautiful freaks.
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u/FreeTimePhotographer chinga la migra Jul 17 '26
I'm a simple man. I see a Jimothy or Jimothy-esk raccoon, I upvote
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u/ZookeepergameOwn8573 Jul 17 '26
For a second there I thought you were going to show Jimothy getting some! Just want him to live the good life!
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u/possiblylallorona Jul 17 '26
East Coast Jimothy fan here, yāall got some big raccoons! Rarely see them here, mostly possums.
I love the human support for Jimothy. Perhaps heāll consider running for president.
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u/smiljan I Brake For Slugs Jul 17 '26
Ours definitely trend bigger! I saw some in a zoo in Cleveland and was wondering why they had malnourished raccoons on display... until I realized they're just not dumpster-diving at Krispy Kreme and Jack In The Box lol
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u/boner4crosstabs Lower Queen Anne Jul 17 '26
Thereās just so much Jimothy content we didnāt even know we needed two days ago. Truly blessed.
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u/SadSimpSkier Jul 17 '26
Raccoons, like foxes, are one of those animals I wish could be domesticated SO BAD š© Unfortunately they are wild animals and cannot be :( (i want a pet fox so baddddd)
p.s. that study about raccoons self-domesticating apparently has many flaws and even if all its claims were supported, it would still take decades
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u/Rolling_Kimura Jul 17 '26
Deformed or evolved? This may be an adaptation to become recognized by humans!
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u/RadagastDaGreen Jul 17 '26
I know Indian street-dog packs learned to send their puppies into town to beg for food. Behaviorally adapted. Maybe Short Spine Syndrome (S^3) will become sexually selected for?
Dare I say it? Lady-raccoons be walking up to Jimothys like "S3 is just so... hot. Our kids could dine on the finest cat food every day, maybe even get a human to build them a little house"? with *Childish Gambino's Redbone playing*
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u/Rolling_Kimura Jul 19 '26
Exactly! A bit of natural selection because daaaaamn that fella has a cool walk + humans protecting him because he's adorable = all the genetic interference to spawn a legacy of Jimothys!
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u/plumesdecheval š Hot Rat Summer š Jul 17 '26
Apparently the world is following Jimothy. Or possibly the the algorithmic bots are anyway.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/16/us-news/mutant-creature-named-jimothy-becomes-celebrity-in-seattle/
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Jul 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/bailey757 Jul 17 '26
If you wanna see that... I'm sad to say you can check my post history š
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u/Admirable-Relief1781 Jul 17 '26
Lmao the way he had to turn his whole body to look because he has no neck š„¹š„¹š„¹
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u/GronWarface Jul 17 '26
Thatās why I asked if Jimothy has fathered kits. I wonder if this can be passed through genes.
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u/Ill_Pain4423 Jul 19 '26
Interesting to see that the Ballard population just has the gene floating around
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Jul 21 '26
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u/bailey757 Jul 21 '26
They dont have names- this is just another raccoon with same condition that Jimothy has, circa 2023
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u/ChartExpensive8947 Jul 21 '26
I heard he speaks Racoonese with an accent. Probably an asylum seeker. Check his passport. I'm calling RICE.Ā
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u/Life-Estimate-7067 Jul 22 '26
Itās crazy how animals with less intelligence than us treat eachother all the same no matter height, weight or disability
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u/Double-Survey7382 Aug 20 '26
Jimothy, like the people of Seattle, take no shit!
https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Jimothy-the-Raccoon-by-PresentTees/183172954/lrcw
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u/q_ali_seattle Jul 17 '26
At 7 seconds mark thought this should be marked NSFW ... However glad to see it's not what I thought it was going to be.Ā
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u/SonicLyfe Jul 17 '26
I just hope Jimothy doesn't have a Princess Diana incident with the paparazzi hounding him.
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u/ludog1bark Jul 17 '26
Damn, I feel bad for that raccoon. Can you imagine people constantly trying to look you to record you?
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u/bailey757 Jul 17 '26
This was a random sighting on my way home one night but sure
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u/ludog1bark Jul 17 '26
I'm not talking about this video specifically, I'm more so talking about all the attention it's getting in general.
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u/government_not_ok Jul 17 '26
His lil family š„¹