Jimothy the raccoon has a rare spinal condition. Here's what that means (popsci.com)
70 points by speckx 5 days ago
buildbot 42 minutes ago
It’s absolutely wild how Jimothy has taken over the internet. This is easily the most media attention anyone/anything from Ballard has ever gotten.
Also; Free Ballard! End the century of Seattle tyranny! https://www.seattle.gov/city-archives/exhibits-and-education... (JK, mostly)
loeg 29 minutes ago
Ballard: it's one of the only north Seattle neighborhoods vaguely affordable to buy in. Lots of young families. Try to ignore the meth heads camping next to the Burke Gilman and industrial areas. (I live in Ballard.)
throw1234567891 2 hours ago
> You’d have to be living under a dumpster not to have heard of Jimothy, Seattle’s favorite raccoon and the internet’s newest folk hero.
Or anywhere outside of Seattle, I suppose.
c22 2 hours ago
I met someone from Seattle just yesterday who had not heard of it. I think anyone who doesn't live on the internet can be forgiven for not following this story.
throw1234567891 2 hours ago
Obviously living under the dumpster!
lgas an hour ago
I live in DC, on the other side of the country and I've heard about him, so I think you are underestimating his renown.
loeg 29 minutes ago
Even in Seattle, I feel like it only blew up in the last two days or so.
InsideOutSanta 2 hours ago
I'm in Europe and I've heard of him.
shermantanktop 2 hours ago
I’m in Seattle, live nearby, and have a raccoon family living my yard. I’m boggled the world knows about him, but they do.
Klonoar 28 minutes ago
The Trump admin opted to make some stupid debacle about this on social media recently so it’s very possible to be aware of it outside of the Seattle sphere.
teaearlgraycold an hour ago
Everyone in SF I know is talking about Jimothy.
dieselgate 2 hours ago
it’s been in front page of nytimes and Reddit and now HN
throw1234567891 an hour ago
I’m so happy. This link made me leave my safe space under the dumpster.
ncr100 3 hours ago
According to a local Instagram posting he has difficulty traversing fence rails.
When he was young, a year ago, a neighbor saw his family helping him as he fumbled.
And so this neighbor says they cut open a hole in their fence at ground level for him.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Da5pCzqjhx1/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da9V4-FOjc_/
So some are appearing to enable this one critter.
Also locally - Seattle - local agencies are celebrating, and sometimes incorporating him into their business, including city sanitation departments spicing up pro social sanitation messages about using garbage cans, claiming Jimothy would want it that way. Some of these messages make less obvious sense than others, IMO.
Terr_ 2 hours ago
> claiming Jimothy would want it that way.
You might enjoy this satire [0], lengthily titled: "I’m Jimothy, the Short-Spined Raccoon Who Has Taken the Internet by Storm, and the Collective Weight of Your Adoration Is Breaking My Already-Compromised Back"
[0] https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-jimothy-the-short-spi...
Larrikin 2 hours ago
Are you complaining about people helping a raccoon? The Internet hype is a bit much but why are you framing it like this raccoon should have died years ago.
laweijfmvo an hour ago
it’ll probably end up badly, not because someone fed a raccoon, but because someone halfway across the planet will develop an unreasonable relationship with this wild animal.
hbarka 2 hours ago
God forbid we put out a pan of dry kibbles for a stray cat or a water pan outside for hiking dogs during hot days. That would be “enabling”.
e_i_pi_2 an hour ago
BigTTYGothGF an hour ago
Salgat 2 hours ago
MichaelZuo an hour ago
What planet are you living on?
Homeowners are generally legally liable for anything that occurs on their property, especially if it can affect neighbouring properties to any provable extent.
There are carveouts and exemptions, but that isn’t a magical deflector shield.
So it doesn’t take a huge imagination to see how it could have negative externalities.
r721 43 minutes ago
Jimothy Easter Egg: https://www.google.com/search?q=jimothy (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49024840)