Exclusive | Who ratted out P'nut the squirrel? Owners have their theory –

P'nut the squirrel was ratted out by someone – and his upstate owners believe it was out of jealousy.

Mark and Daniela Longo told The Post on Sunday that they had profited from their furry internet sensation – who had helped drive followers to their raunchy OnlyFans page – before he was abducted from their shelter last week by state environmental regulators over rabies fears and was euthanized.

The couple's financial success, fueled at least in part by P'nut, may have been enough to convince someone to spend money on them – and their fluffy-tailed cash cow, they said.

“Maybe it’s someone who thinks I’m using this place to make a lot of money,” Mark said of his rescue farm.

“Did this work wonders for my OnlyFans?” Mark said of the place where P'nut was frolicking along with other animals. “Absolutely. There's a lot of money to be made with this.”

The Longos said they bought their 350-acre estate near Elmira with the $800,000 they made in a month from posting their porn on the Internet – and P'nut then began his separate, to make your own contribution to the family-friendly fan base.

“I had my own Squirrel Dad account, my own Instagram,” Mark Longo said. “And I do my training and often I don't have time to create (duplicate) content like I used to.

“I just tag my Squirrel Dad account from the peanut video I posted so the clip gets twice as many views,” he said. “Every now and then a shirtless photo (also on P'nut's page), but I have completely distanced myself from the whole thing. Obviously people wanted to find both and try to associate them.”

The Longos made headlines after the state Department of Environmental Protection raided their backcountry “P'nuts Freedom Farm” and nabbed their lovable furry pet and his pal, a raccoon named Fred – with both animals euthanized due to rabies concerns because they were there were in close contact with people.

Many see the couple as victims of an overpowering state government and have become local heroes.

“This morning at the grocery store I wanted to pick up a few extra copies of the Post to keep for myself,” Longo said, referring to the Sunday paper with the front-page headline: “Bushy Whacked.”

“When I walked in, (people) recognized my face because I was on the cover of the newspaper. And they just smiled and nodded.

“Last night my wife and I went out to dinner. We were having dinner and the couple next to us looked over and said, “We're so sorry for what happened and we want you to know you have our full support,” he added. “Everyone just noticed and then they told us they were sorry for what happened to P'nut.”

The squirrel's death sparked such outrage that a state lawmaker introduced a bill to improve animal rights laws, calling the bill the “Peanuts Law: Humane Animal Protection Act.”

“What happened to P’nut was a tragedy,” state Rep. Jake Blumencranz said on X. “As a state legislator and animal rights activist, this tragedy can be a catalyst for change.”

The measure would require a 72-hour waiting period before a shelter animal can be euthanized and create an appeals system while giving shelters “the right to humane due process.”

P'nut's death has also sparked backlash from other politicians.

The spokesman for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is reportedly eyeing a run for mayor of New York City, criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul on X over her administration's handling of P'nut

“When no one cares about the store and state authorities are allowed to act with impunity, this is what happens,” wrote spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “This situation should have come across someone’s desk
@GovKathyHochul's office and someone with brains should have intervened.

“#Justice4Peanut”

Upstate Republican Marc Molinaro wrote online: “As a pet owner, I feel for the Longos and call on Gov. (Kathy) Hochul to formally apologize for her ridiculous overreach.”

A gofundme.com page for P'nut has raised more than $132,000.

Neither Hochul's office nor the DEC responded to requests for comment from The Post on Sunday.