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Here’s Why “Peanut The Squirrel” Is Going Viral Right Now Online…

If you’re busy enjoying your Saturday and suddenly load Twitter/X, your are going to see a bunch of posts about a squirrel named Peanut.

So allow me to explain exactly why the world is suddenly obsessed with a squirrel.

It kind of feels like the new Harambe moment, do you remember Harambe the Gorilla?

That boy fell into his enclosure in the Cincinnati zoo and then they “euthanized” him afterward?

Well, history seems to be repeating itself.

Meet Peanut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon.

Admittedly, this is a bit strange but a man in New York named Mark Longo who rescued a squirrel named “Peanut” and a Raccoon named “Fred”.

Of course, they weren’t named Peanut and Fred out in the wild, Longo named them after rescuing them and nursing them back to health.

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He then kept them as pets, which admittedly is a bit strange and not the kind of pets I’d want in the house, but he seemed to be causing no one any harm and people are now obsessed with videos of him hanging out with his pet squirrel Peanut:

But then New York State got involved and said “We’re the Government and we’re here to help!”

So they raided his house and killed both animals.

Why?

Because he didn’t have a proper permit.

Here is Longo with Peanut:

And here is Fred the Raccoon:

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Fox News had more details:

Peanut the Squirrel, a beloved pet who was an internet sensation before New York state officials confiscated and then killed it, is drawing even more social media attention after the rodent’s death.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) seized Peanut and a raccoon named Fred from owner Mark Longo’s home and animal sanctuary in rural Pine City, near the Pennsylvania border, earlier this week. The agency, which said it had received complaints that wildlife was being kept illegally, then euthanized the critters, to the horror of Longo and about 550,000 of Peanut’s best friends. As word got out, the X memes went up.

“President Trump will save the squirrels,” Elon Musk wrote with a squirrel and a crying face emoji. “RIP P’Nut.” The text was accompanied by an image of the rodent on the back of his smiling owner, Mark Longo.

“Radicalized Squirrels In MAGA Hats Begin Uprising,” read a Babylon Bee headline.

Another tweet depicted John Wick, Keanu Reeves’ fictional movie character who goes on a killing spree after his beloved dog is killed by a mobster, and warned that denizens of the web may react similarly.

While some memes expressed humor, others dripped with outrage that the DEC and Chemung County Health Department had put the animals down to test them for rabies. State law requires people to get a license if they wish to own a wild animal. Longo, who adopted Peanut some seven years ago, has said he was working to get certified as an educational animal.

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They can’t seem to do anything about gang violence and illegal immigrants, but they can surely raid the home of a man with a pet squirrel.

Make it make sense!

Speaking of Harambe, people are pointing out that happened right before the 2016 election and this is now happening right before the 2024 election:

And from the NY Post:

Peanut the Squirrel, of internet fame, has been euthanized after the pet was seized by New York state earlier this week, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The seven-year-old gray rescue squirrel, commonly referred to as “P’Nut” on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, was put to death, along with Fred the raccoon, so that the animals could be tested for the presence of rabies, according to a statement from the agency obtained by WETM.

Peanut’s guardian Mark Longo took to Instagram to memorialize his beloved pet in a video.

Through tears Longo, with his girlfriend at his side, said, “Peanut was the best thing that ever happened to us.”

“RIP MY BEST FRIEND. Thank you for the best 7 years of my life. Thank you for bringing so much joy to us and the world. I’m sorry I failed you but thank you for everything,” Longo wrote in a caption to the post announcing Peanut’s death.

Longo also asked fans for financial help for a “legal battle” and for his non-profit P’Nut’s Freedom Farm.

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The DEC claims that Peanut, who was notably docile and friendly over the course of his very public facing life, bit one of the investigators on the hand while being confiscated from his Elmira home on Wednesday.

I hate the Government as much as anyone and this is clearly wrong, but perhaps a squirrel should not be your “best friend” for 7 years?

I do think that’s a bit “sus” and weirds me out a bit.

I’m also sure that will be an unpopular opinion, but I’m not paid to print what makes people happy, I’m paid to print the truth and my opinion, so there you go.

A statement is going viral claiming to be from the Trump/Vance campaign, but it appears to be a fake — still, it’s pretty funny as satire:

What do you think?


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