Peanut, the Instagram-famous squirrel, is confiscated by New York officials | Animals

A New Yorker who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star named Peanut is asking state authorities to return his beloved pet after they confiscated it in a raid that also found a raccoon named Fred.

Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut – also spelled P'Nut or PNUT – brought at least six state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials to Mark Longo's home on Wednesday, Longo said.

“The DEC came to my house and searched my house without a warrant to find a squirrel!” said Longo of Pine City. “I was treated like I was a drug dealer and they wanted drugs and guns.”

Officials went with Peanut, who amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms during his seven years at Longo. They also took Fred, a newer family member.

As of Thursday evening, Longo had collected nearly 20,000 signatures calling for Peanut's return and said he had hired a legal team to get Peanut back.

A DEC spokesman said in a statement that the agency launched an investigation after receiving “multiple reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wild animals that could transmit rabies and the illegal keeping of wild animals as pets.”

Longo, who runs an animal shelter inspired by his squirrel friend called P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, mourned Peanut's loss on Instagram and said he feared Peanut was euthanized. “I don’t know if Peanut is still alive,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday. “I don't know where he is.”

The DEC spokesman did not respond when asked whether Peanut had been euthanized.

Longo said he recorded Peanut seven years ago after seeing Peanut's mother get hit by a car in New York City. Longo brought Peanut home and cared for him for eight months before attempting to release the squirrel. “A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch with half of his tail missing and his bone sticking out,” Longo said.

Longo concluded that Peanut did not have the survival skills to live in the wild and that he would remain a pet squirrel.

Internet fame followed after Longo posted videos of Peanut playing with his cat.

An Instagram account dedicated to Peanut shows the animal jumping on Longo's shoulder, wearing a miniature cowboy hat and eating a waffle while wearing crocheted bunny ears.

Over the years, Peanut's story has been featured on television and in newspapers, including USA Today.

Longo, who works as a mechanical engineer, lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, until he decided to move to upstate New York last year to start an animal shelter. The P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary opened in April 2023 and is now home to about 300 animals, including horses, goats and alpacas, said Longo, who runs the shelter with his wife Daniela and other family members.

Longo understands that it is against New York State law to keep a wild animal without a license. He said he is in the process of filing paperwork to get Peanut certified as a learning animal.

“If we don't follow the rules, guide us in the right direction to follow the rules, you know?” Longo said. “Let us know what we need to do to keep Peanut in the house and not have to worry about him being kidnapped.”

As for Fred, Longo said he has only had the raccoon for a few months and hopes to rehabilitate the injured animal and release it back into the forest.

Longo is not the first pet owner to protest the confiscation of a pet by New York authorities. A Buffalo-area man whose alligator was seized by the DEC in March is suing the agency to get the 800-pound reptile back.