#cryptid

You’ve seen him, you probably said “AWWW!” and love him. Jimothy, the foreshortened raccoon. I was alerted to this ball of cuteness by my eyes-on-Seattle pal Matt Crowley on July 16 (link to Seattle Times) and have been watching how this sweet thing has become an internet celebrity. In the past two days, the story about him is everywhere. And it is a Jimothy Summer. All over the news! I didn’t think I’d write about this and add to the already overwhelming hype, but a few associations were made that prompted me to comment. Is Jimothy a cryptid? No. People were able to document the animal immediately. It did not generate folklore or a mystery. Because we have good documentation, we have a very good basis about what is happening to explain this interesting and odd-looking animal. The person who spotted (and named) Jimothy in her yard first thought it was a cat but was able to capture it on video right away. The fur coloration was the immediate giveaway that it was a raccoon. She said: “I got very confused at what I was seeing,” Hall said. “I just have never seen any other animal like it.” But then looked online to find that a congenital condition called short spine syndrome that occurs in mammals was a likely explanation. Jimothy does serves as an example of the colloquial, watered-down use of the term “cryptid”. In modern discussion, “cryptid” is any sentient thing that people believe in, but remains in the margins of society, hidden and secretive. In the original sense of the word, it was invented in 1983 (but didn’t catch on until later) to designate an animal that was known from anecdotes, eyewitnesses, or legendary tales that some interpreted as being an undiscovered, unclassified new species. Prime examples were the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, and Bigfoot/Sasquatch. Jimothy has been compared to a chupacabra and the mythical sad Squonk of the Pennsylvania forests. He got his own page on the Cryptid Wiki. But that page has been nominated for deletion for the reasons above. The online cryptid gatekeepers are attempting to keep the term relevant, which is fair. When too many things are called a cryptid, then it loses its meaning entirely. In this piece, the title states Jimothy Isn’t a Cryptid, but then says this: “What I love about him is that he is proof that many cryptids people supposedly spot out in the woods or desert aren’t mythical monsters or weird aliens or demons.” Well no, he’s not proof about cryptids of any sort. But… Could an unusual condition in an animal be the basis for a cryptid? Yes, definitely. And this is a good example of how this could happen. Imagine if Jimothy had mange or was leucisitic or albino. There have been hairless raccoons that were reportedly “mysterious” creatures until more knowledgable people figured out what species they were. There was the Montauk Monster, of course, which was a raccoon carcass. And there were several hairless raccoons observed in North America, some referred to as a “chupacabra”. Hairlessness, in general, will confound our identification skills. Strange coloration, missing or extra limbs, illnesses, and other rare conditions will challenge what we expect a typical animal to look like. And so we might fail to identify it and it becomes mysterious. Jimothy summer While an animal expert suspected that Jimothy was born this year, there was a raccoon with the same condition spotted in 2023 in the same town of Ballard, Washington. So he may be 3 years old now, or there is more than one. People also claimed they saw him months ago and wondered what was going on. But it just took the right social media post to kick off Jimothy summer! I love that people love him. However: there is still this kind of clickbait shit:  In no way is he striking fear. In fact, one of Jimothy’s social media accounts responded to my outrage. Right on, little dude. The town has embraced him in a way that is now typical for mysterious animal sightings. The townsfolk create merch to sell, paint him on their outdoor walls, they get tattoos of him, they sing songs, and public organizations and private businesses add him into every kind of advertising on social media. This is the “pop cryptid” model at its most commercial. We love weird things that we can celebrate and call our own. Fans of Jimothy want him to signify providing respect and love to all beings who share your neighborhood, even if they are unusual-looking or horizontally challenged. It’s OK to be unique and special. People want some fun, good news to share today and this critter is bringing it. Special Note to Mastodon followers of this blog: I am having a problem with Activity Pub so I will be turning it off. The content will no longer appear in your Fediverse feed until they fix it (if ever). Please check that you follow my main account at @idoubtit@mstdn.social or subscribe to this blog directly. Thank you!