GoKawiilI live in Seattle, where we’ve always had our share of quirky local color.
If you’ve ever watched a home Seahawks game on Monday Night Football, you know about the Pike Place Market fish-throwing guys. There used to be a mystery vending machine in the Capitol Hill neighborhood that dispensed random drinks, and no one knew who stocked it. Outside of late-night bars and concerts, hot dog stands sell Seattle dogs, loaded with grilled onions and cream cheese (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it).
So, of course, Jimothy had to come from the Emerald City. Jimothy, the short-spined raccoon that went viral this month, is now a Google animation for the whole internet to enjoy. As of Wednesday, if you Google “Jimothy,” a cute little animated version of the raccoon races across your screen. A green paw icon also shows up, and you can click that to see Jimothy scurry again and again.
As of 3 p.m. PT, Jimothy has been summoned for his little Google run over 1.5 million times.
The raccoon hangs out in my neighborhood, Seattle’s Scandinavian-accented Ballard area. Local resident Kiana Hall told the Seattle Times she thought it was a cat: “I just have never seen any other animal like it.” She posted her video on Instagram and gave him the name because “he looked like a Jimothy.”
(Note: I can’t independently confirm Jimothy’s sex or gender.)
In addition to the Google animation, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which I didn’t know existed, is making a Jimothy bobblehead. You can preorder it now for $30, with shipping in December, when Jimothy will almost surely be forgotten in favor of a newer viral phenomenon. Y’all remember Moo Deng?
The Seattle Mariners were joking around on X, pretending that Jimothy was at their batting practice, but then the team got real and put a raccoon-suited person in their regular ballpark salmon race. Jimothy won, and the crowd went wild.
There’s more: On July 26, my neighborhood is celebrating the goofy little Jimothy with a proclamation in his honor and an art competition.
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