The story of Peanut the Squirrel and his friend Fred the Raccoon, and their untimely imprisonment and unjust deaths at the hands of New York officials rabidly intent on killing them, has captured hearts and minds across the nation.
Now, his owner and friend Mark Longo is seeking justice for Peanut (and Fred).
Appearing on NewsNation with Chris Cuomo, Longo told the outlet “he’s filing a ‘very big’ lawsuit, demanding answers after … state authorities left him in the dark about what happened to his beloved squirrel and raccoon, which were seized in a warrant search.”
He may have a case, as even Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch called the arrest and execution of the furry rodent an example of “government overreach,” in an address to the Federalist Society.
The Tale of Peanut
For those unfamiliar with the story, Longo first met Peanut – sometimes styled “P’nut” –after the infant squirrel’s mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2017.
Longo fostered the baby eastern gray squirrel, feeding him with a bottle, then released him into the wilds. When he returned, bright-eyed, but with half his bushy tail missing, Longo and his wife Daniela adopted the pet as their own, fearing he would not survive in “Nature, red in tooth and claw,” as Lord Alfred Tennyson framed the harsh and ruthless world of wild beasts.
Longo, who also posts less savory fare on other sites (NOT recommended by Focus on the Family), began a more family-friendly Instagram account for the half-tailed critter, which now has 914,000 followers. Most of the short posts are of Peanut jumping around the Longos’ home, along with a few of Fred the raccoon and other rescue animals from the family’s upstate New York farm, “P’nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.”
It’s at this point, after seven years with the Longos, that Peanut’s (and Fred’s) tale of woe turns grim and dark.
“Mr. Longo has said that he and his wife were in the process of getting their licenses to rehabilitate wildlife,” The New York Times reported.
But licensed wildlife rehabilitators – allegedly motivated by jealousy – ratted out the Longos to the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Chemung County Health Department’s Environmental Health Services. You know matters are turning Orwellian when bloated state bureaus have such lengthy titles.
As originally reported by TMZ:
Following his removal into custody, Peanut allegedly bit an officer, perhaps in a thwarted escape attempt. The officers went nuts and killed him and Fred. The DEC released a statement, which had rodent fans in an uproar:
But word on the street is the DEC was already bent on mercilessly executing Peanut and Fred even days before their arrest. Once officials had their claws on the pair, they were presumed guilty, without a trial by a jury of their peers. You would think the agency would understand that if the squirrel and raccoon had lived with the Longos for years, the famous furred friends would be free from rabies.
Famous Squirrels Throughout History
Even though New York bans owning squirrels, believing they “belong to the state,” James Lucas posted a thread on X, stating:
Lucas illustrated the post with an image of “A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham),” painted by John Singleton Copley in 1765, which shows young Henry with a squirrel, leashed with a gold chain.
Lucas goes on to tell the story of Benjamin Franklin, who gave a pet squirrel “to Georgiana, the young daughter of a friend”:
Mungo, like Peanut, had a tragic demise. Lucas writes:
Franklin also gave the young girl another squirrel, who “thrived and lived a long life.”
In the 1900s, we have Beatrix Potter’s classic book, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, about a reckless, lazy and rude little animal who taunts Old Brown, an Owl.
Nutkin makes up scandalous rhymes and riddles, such as:
Old Mr. B! Riddle-me-ree!
Hitty Pitty within the wall,
Hitty Pitty without the wall;
If you touch Hitty Pitty,
Hitty Pitty will bite you!
Of course you know the rest of the tale, as Old Brown captures Nutkin, intending to skin and eat him. Nutkin escapes with half a tail – like Peanut – perhaps learning a lesson or two about the dangers of teasing owls.
Then there’s Rocket “Rocky” J. Squirrel, also known as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, who gained fame as the friend of Bullwinkle J. Moose in the cartoon The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Children would watch each week as fearless Rocky and the slow-witted Bullwinkle would defeat the Russian spies, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.
Peanut’s Legacy – The Freedom Fighter
But while there have been celebrity squirrels in the past, none quite reaches Peanut’s (and Fred’s) popularity as a mascot for those seeking to fight an over-bloated, over-large government. His untimely demise unleashed the furor of many – especially on X.
Peanut has sparked a resistance movement. Hillsdale College, with its motto “Pursuing Truth – Defending Liberty,” quoted The Federalist Papers on X, calling too much government power “tyranny”:
On Fox News, a furious Greg Gutfield opined, “You want to red-pill America? Raid their homes and murder their pets.”
Peanut gained international status, as former Australian Member of Parliament Craig Kelly posted:
Another post on X explained the significance of Peanut as a symbol of freedom.
Indeed. Peanut (along with Fred) has become a vivid symbol for those who oppose tyrannical government policies and actions. He lives on as an emblem for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Related articles and resources:
It’s Official: Elon Musk Buys Twitter in Potentially Massive Victory for Free Speech
States Sue Feds for Colluding with Big Tech to Censor Conservative Viewpoints
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Government-Backed Social Media Censorship
‘The Twitter Files’ – Elon Musk Releases Details of New York Post Censorship
‘The Twitter Files Part Two’ – Documentation of ‘Twitter’s Secret Blacklists’
Image from Shutterstock
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