A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star named Peanut is appealing to state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also turned up a raccoon named Fred.
Numerous anonymous complaints about Peanut — which is also spelled P’Nut or PNUT — brought at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to Mark Longo’s home near the Pennsylvania border in the rural town of Pine on Wednesday, Longo said.
“The EPA came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel!” “I was treated like I was a drug dealer and they were looking for drugs and weapons,” Longo, 34, said.
The officers left with Peanut, who had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms during his seven years with Longo. They also took in Fred, a more recent addition to the family.
A DEC spokesperson said in a statement that the agency launched an investigation after receiving “multiple reports from the public about unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.”
Longo, who runs an animal sanctuary inspired by his squirrel friend called P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, took to Instagram to mourn Peanut’s loss.
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“Okay, Internet, you win,” Longo posted. “You took one of the most amazing animals from me because of your selfishness. To the group of people who contacted DEC, there is a special place for you in Hell.
Longo fears the peanut will be euthanized. “I don’t know if Bennett is alive,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday. “I don’t know where he is.”
A DEC spokesman did not respond to a question about whether the peanuts had been euthanized.
Longo said he saw Peanut’s mother get hit by a car in New York City seven years ago, leaving the baby squirrel orphaned. Longo brought Peanut home and cared for him for eight months before trying to release the squirrel outdoors. Longo said: “After a day and a half, I found him sitting on my balcony with half of his tail missing and his bone sticking out.”
Longo decided that Peanut lacked the survival skills to live in the wild and would remain an indoor squirrel.
Soon after Longo posted videos of Peanut playing with his cat, Internet fame followed.
A scroll through Peanut’s Instagram account indicates that this is no ordinary squirrel. Peanut hops on Longo’s shoulder, wearing a miniature cowboy hat, and eats a waffle while wearing crochet bunny ears.
Over the years Peanut’s story has appeared on television and newspapers including USA Today.
Longo, a mechanical engineer, lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, until he decided to move to upstate New York last year to start an animal sanctuary.
The P’Nuts Freedom Farm animal sanctuary opened in April 2023 and now houses about 300 animals including horses, goats and alpacas, said Longo, who runs the sanctuary with his wife, Daniela, and other family members.
Longo understands that it is against New York State law to possess a wild animal without a license. He said he was in the process of submitting paperwork to get Peanut certified as an educational animal.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
