Is Jimothy the raccoon healthy? Short spine syndrome

Question

Everybody within ten miles of here has now seen the round raccoon. There is a mural, there are bobbleheads, there was a council proclamation. He looks like…

fused_vertebrae · Accepted Answer

It has been looked at, and the view from the people qualified to have one is that he is likely healthy for his species with no apparent mobility or pain problems. The state wildlife department said much the same: he appears healthy without any human intervention.

The shape is almost certainly short spine syndrome, where the vertebrae are compressed or fused so the back is much shorter than normal. Hence the squashed look, the absent neck and the body sitting straight on the legs.

his_mother_did_it · Answer

The detail I liked most in the coverage is that experts credit his mother. An animal that looks different is more vulnerable when young, and the reason there is a round adult raccoon to make bobbleheads of is that she raised him through the part where it mattered.

Which is a better story than the one the internet is telling, and it is actually about raccoons rather than about us.

Is Jimothy the raccoon healthy? Short spine syndrome

3 answers