alt.hn

7/21/2026 at 7:28:55 PM

Jimothy the raccoon has a rare spinal condition. Here's what that means

 https://www.popsci.com/science/whats-jimothy-raccoon-condition/

by speckx

7/26/2026 at 7:45:55 PM

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)

by buildbot

7/26/2026 at 7:58:28 PM

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.)

by loeg

7/26/2026 at 9:06:24 PM

>it's one of the only north Seattle neighborhoods vaguely affordable to buy in

Most north Seattle neighborhoods north of Ballard are more affordable to buy in than Ballard. Exceptions being North Beach / Blue Ridge, Windermere, Laurelhurst and similar.

by operatingthetan

7/26/2026 at 9:31:01 PM

> Laurelhurst

I can’t tell if this is a ‘whoosh’ over my head or what, but saying Laurelhurst is more affordable than just about anywhere besides Medina is wild. They literally had enough sway to have the hospital reroute their flights (it was actually a children’s hospital and they got enough flack about it only this year did they relent [0]).

[0] https://www.kuow.org/health-care/2026-05-08/seattle-children...

by PNewling

7/26/2026 at 5:37:37 PM

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.

by ncr100

7/26/2026 at 6:21:23 PM

> 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...

by Terr_

7/26/2026 at 9:19:52 PM

Well it also opens passageways for other ground-dwelling animals as well, which is a good thing. I believe in the UK and other places where hedgehogs are native it’s somewhat common for people to cut small holes in their fences so they can get around.

So it’s not really a bad thing, IMO.

by nkrisc

7/26/2026 at 6:04:47 PM

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.

by Larrikin

7/26/2026 at 6:58:08 PM

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.

by laweijfmvo

7/26/2026 at 7:24:54 PM

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.

by MichaelZuo

7/26/2026 at 6:35:30 PM

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”.

by hbarka

7/26/2026 at 7:12:32 PM

I do this too, but it's important to make sure you're either fully adopting them to keep them inside and care for medical issues, or at least make sure they get neutered/spayed before they're let out again if they can't live indoors. Stray cats are terrible for the local ecology- just feeding them without taking those steps is definitely harmful. In my town you can call animal control for strays and they'll clip the ears so you can see that they can't reproduce and are safe to leave out.

I'd also be hesitant to give people the idea that racoons are safe to interact with, even stray cats can be dangerous, but racoons can do much more damage. I feel like the ideal situation is they capture him and find an animal sanctuary away from the public. Wild animals with genetic issues don't usually live a great life

by e_i_pi_2

7/26/2026 at 8:12:14 PM

Or you can just toss some food out and call it a day

This ideology that all stray animals need to be siphoned up and neutered on the spot is bizarre to me. Sure there is a balance to be struck as you can't have a hundred thousand cats in a small area, but this idea that stray cats and dogs are simply not allowed to exist and reproduce naturally is insane.

by Rotdhizon

7/26/2026 at 9:00:42 PM

Have you ever lived in a place where there aren’t effective control efforts? These programs aren’t about people feeling good about themselves. The middle ground you suggest IS neutering and spaying all the animals you can find. The more extreme end of control is culls. It isn’t something you can ignore without pretty serious second order effects.

It ends up being pretty grim for the animals and sometimes humans too when stray population isn’t controlled. I’m talking about the conditions these animals end up enduring, not the culling which is its own grim process.

As someone who had to help get a stray cat population under control the ugly way (limited budget in a developing country), I would much rather that strays get fixed before it gets there.

by dghlsakjg

7/26/2026 at 9:03:18 PM

Domestic cats and dogs are not native to the Americas. They are pets or work animals. The cats should be adopted if possible and made indoor cats or neutered to keep their invasive population down. Dogs too, you need to treat feral dogs as wild and excellent rabies spreaders.

by undersuit

7/26/2026 at 9:12:30 PM

You do you, but I'd ask in earnest people please don't. Cats are invasive to the US and wreak havoc on local wildlife populations. Where I live, so many people feed the ferals that they've become an overpopulated menace.

by silisili

7/26/2026 at 7:02:24 PM

They can take my bird feeders from my cold dead hands.

by BigTTYGothGF

7/26/2026 at 8:34:17 PM

Feeding stray cats and feeding birds are very different things, pretty much at odds with each other. If a stray cat is fed, birds have a more difficult time surviving.

by frantathefranta

7/26/2026 at 6:41:59 PM

When I lived in Chicago I'd see rats and cats eating cat food left out alongside each other. I'm not against helping wild animals as long as it doesn't come with a rat infestation issue.

by Salgat

7/26/2026 at 7:24:39 PM

It doesn't. You already have a rat infestation issue. This doesn't cause it or further it. You think that little handful of kibble compares to the free calories available in an entire dumpster full of chicago deep dish pizza scrap that sits out in the open air day in day out?

by asdff

7/26/2026 at 6:51:53 PM

I know that one. It’s the good ol’ tolerance formula:

Tolerance(A) = { 100% if A ≠ B; 0% if A → B }

Sprinkle on anything to suit your taste.

by hbarka

7/26/2026 at 7:17:55 PM

This does seem like an unfortunate truth of life, I always want to loan friends money, but can't afford to if they keep not paying me back :/

I also want to put a bird feeder outside a window we have, but I know that'll mean bird poop on a walkway that other people use

Same with some technology, I want to use X because it seems better but I know that'll mean it won't get the same support as Y so we have to use Y

by e_i_pi_2

7/26/2026 at 6:02:35 PM

> 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.

by throw1234567891

7/26/2026 at 7:42:48 PM

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.

by lgas

7/26/2026 at 6:06:24 PM

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.

by c22

7/26/2026 at 6:18:38 PM

Obviously living under the dumpster!

by throw1234567891

7/26/2026 at 6:43:25 PM

I'm in Europe and I've heard of him.

by InsideOutSanta

7/26/2026 at 6:50:27 PM

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.

by shermantanktop

7/26/2026 at 7:58:52 PM

Even in Seattle, I feel like it only blew up in the last two days or so.

by loeg

7/26/2026 at 8:59:59 PM

Canadian here. Had never heard of him. Though I also don't read news.

by busymom0

7/26/2026 at 7:59:34 PM

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.

by Klonoar

7/26/2026 at 7:37:16 PM

Everyone in SF I know is talking about Jimothy.

by teaearlgraycold

7/26/2026 at 6:43:22 PM

it’s been in front page of nytimes and Reddit and now HN

by dieselgate

7/26/2026 at 7:00:58 PM

I’m so happy. This link made me leave my safe space under the dumpster.

by throw1234567891

7/26/2026 at 8:34:55 PM

[dead]

by lardosaurusrex

7/26/2026 at 5:41:50 PM

[flagged]

by kiaansaraiya

7/26/2026 at 6:11:37 PM

[flagged]

by pudgywalsh

7/26/2026 at 6:50:08 PM

Weird, joyless take. What do you get out of looking down on people appreciating a cute animal?

by bakedbeanz

7/26/2026 at 7:30:43 PM

I think the critique was levied towards the notion of asking an ecologist to make a medical diagnosis of an individual based on a handful of tiktok clips rather than a stab at anyone's joy.

The url is literally popsci.com though so I'm not sure what gp expected.

by c22