Everything You Might Want To Know About Peanut, The Squirrel Star Turned MAGA Martyr
Simply days earlier than the presidential election, the demise of a grey squirrel named Peanut has grow to be a considerably inexplicable rallying cry for a number of the worst individuals within the nation. JD Vance claimed at a rally that Donald Trump was “fired up” about Peanut’s demise. Elon Musk tweeted an unsettling AI rendering of a purple squirrel (a distinct species) cloaked in Jedi garb with a quote attributed to “Obi PNut Kenobi.” On Nov. 2, the Home Judiciary GOP tweeted “Justice for Peanut.” $PNUT is trending, and I refuse to be taught what which means.
In case you are a traditional individual, you may need not heard of Peanut and have no real interest in studying who he’s, wherein case I want you a peaceable and advanced day. However you might be open to a light-weight little bit of mind poisoning within the identify of data, step inside, and let me clarify how the saga of Peanut the Squirrel took over the web and will or might not affect the 2024 presidential election.
Who was Peanut, and why was he well-known?
Peanut was an japanese grey squirrel and an orphan who encountered Mark Longo after his mom was hit by a automotive in New York Metropolis seven years in the past, Longo advised the Associated Press. Longo took Peanut to his residence within the hamlet of Pine Metropolis, N.Y., and cared for the squirrel for eight months, at which level he tried to launch the animal into the wild. “A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch missing half of his tail with his bone sticking out,” Longo advised the AP.
Longo and Peanut. | @peanut_the_squirrel12/Instagram
Longo decided to keep Peanut inside his home and commenced posting images of the squirrel from his Instagram, @squirrel_dad_12, which has 106,000 followers, and Peanut’s personal Instagram, @peanut_the_squirrel12, which has 693,000 followers. The significance of the “12” in each accounts is unclear, however in case you have any theories, hold forth beneath. On each accounts, Longo principally shared movies of him posing with Peanut, who was usually perched on his shoulder or sporting tiny hats. Most of those movies had been arguably thirst traps, and others had been objectively thirst traps. (I’m not shaming thirst traps, however this element turns into related later.)
Within the spring of 2023, impressed by Peanut, Longo and his spouse Daniela opened P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary. Based on the sanctuary’s web site, P’Nuts Freedom Farm rescues animals from “dire situations, often involving abuse abandonment, and neglect.” A number of the 300-something animals on the sanctuary embody alpacas, goats, and Roger, an ex–Amish buggy horse with neurological points.
What occurred to Peanut?
Officers from the state Division of Environmental Conservation arrived at Longo’s residence on Oct. 30 after receiving “multiple reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets,” the AP reported. The DEC officers raided Longo’s residence and took Peanut and Fred, a raccoon that was additionally dwelling inside Longo’s residence. In the course of the raid, DEC officers reported that somebody was bitten by the squirrel. There aren’t any accredited strategies to check a dwelling animal for rabies, so each Peanut and Fred had been euthanized for testing, based on a DEC statement.
“Despite our passionate outcry for compassion, the agency chose to ignore our pleas, leaving us in deep shock and grief,” learn the caption on a video posted by @peanut_the_squirrel12, which confirmed Fred the raccoon consuming a Dunkin’ pup cup—a uncommon highlight for Fred, who spent his days dwelling within the social media shadow of the well-known Peanut.
In New York and most different states, it’s against the law to personal a wild animal with out a license. This can be a widespread regulation, as a result of wild animals are usually not pets. They have particular dwelling necessities and are sometimes tough to maintain wholesome and stay in captivity, even when raised from infancy, as a wildlife specialist from Utah State College Extension explains here. Wild animals can carry zoonotic illnesses that may be transmitted to individuals and pets. Squirrels, for instance, can carry the bubonic plague. Wild animals are usually not vaccinated or protected in opposition to illnesses, as a result of not like precise pets they can’t be taken to a vet, who could be mandated to report illegally held wildlife.
In case you come throughout a wild animal in misery, what it’s best to do is contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation middle, which might probably launch them again into the wild. You mustn’t take that animal into your property, and it’s best to undoubtedly not enroll them in a 90-day TikTookay course.
Did Peanut and Fred actually should die? They appeared glad!
Did the DEC have to ship six officers to Longo’s home to seize Peanut? Most likely not. Did Longo want to offer an unique to the New York Put up saying he was handled like “a terrorist” and a “drug dealer”? Most likely not.
Because the regulation stands, the second Longo determined to maintain Peanut and never flip the squirrel over to a licensed wildlife rehabber, thus eliminating the likelihood that Peanut might be safely returned to the wild, he positioned the squirrel underneath the chance of being seized by the state. One may argue that the common individual shouldn’t be anticipated to know their specific state legal guidelines of wildlife rehabilitation, and that is truthful. However Longo stated he was conscious that Peanut was an unlawful pet and claims he was within the means of submitting paperwork to certify Peanut as an academic animal. Why did it take Longo seven years to use for a license?
Longo is an influencer, presumably one which has reaped the rewards of documenting the life and occasions of a well-known squirrel. A few of these perks, equivalent to nuts from Nuts.com, appear ostensibly for Peanut. Others, nonetheless, are for Longo. The two pinned tales on @peanut_the_squirrel12 include Peanut’s origin story and “New Teeth!”, a collection of movies of Longo smiling with extraordinarily vivid white enamel, all tagging @dentalcentreturkey. And when Fred got here alongside, a raccoon that Longo insists he was rehabilitating after an harm and deliberate to launch again into the wild, Fred turned content material, too—even perhaps a star-in-the-making, the subsequent Peanut.
It’s tragic that Peanut and Fred had been euthanized, as they’re the actual victims of this entire state of affairs. Maybe the DEC might have pursued one other authorized choice, equivalent to quarantining them at a licensed rehabilitation middle. However rabies protocol exists for a purpose. Rabies could be unfold to individuals and animals through saliva, and as soon as the virus infects the central nervous system, it’s not simply deadly, however a horrifying demise.
Squirrels virtually by no means get rabies, based on a fact sheet from New York State Division of Well being. It appears extraordinarily unlikely that Peanut, a squirrel that lived indoors for the final seven years (with occasional contact with different squirrels), had rabies. If Longo had by no means posted Peanut to social media, possibly nobody would have complained in regards to the squirrel, and Peanut might have lived out his years within the privateness of Longo’s residence, consuming a questionable weight loss program that prominently featured waffles. However rabies happens most frequently in wild animals equivalent to raccoons, bats, skunks, and foxes. Maintaining a squirrel inside your property is one factor; taking a raccoon to Dunkin’ Donuts is one other.
Have been Peanut and Fred glad at Longo’s home? Most likely! Each are clever mammals with personalities able to experiencing emotions and ache. However once more, neither Peanut nor Fred had any alternative when it got here to the place, and the way, they’d have the ability to stay their lives. And whereas Longo initially got here from a spot of compassion, he holds some duty for his or her fates.
And why did Peanut posthumously grow to be a MAGA mascot?
After the DEC raided his home and killed his two pets, Longo cryptically vowed to the AP that the state would hear from him quickly. Quickly after on a TMZ Live interview with Daniela, Longo specified he’s pursuing authorized motion. “Not only is it a bad look for the state, it’s a bad look for humanity. Like what are we doing? With our resources and our tax dollars, what are we doing?” Longo stated. The Longos additionally launched a petition calling for justice for Peanut and NYSDEC reform and have raised greater than $179,000 in a Gofundme honoring Peanut and Fred.
On the web, conservative pundits took the chance to pin Peanut’s demise on authorities overreach, and thus on Kamala Harris, in posts unsurprisingly accompanied by horrifying AI slop. And in individual at a rally in North Carolina, JD Vance advised a North Carolina rally that Trump was “fired up” about Peanut, including, “He was like, ‘You know, is it really the case that the Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels?'” and main Musk to tweet AI Peanut slop of his personal. Quickly, Trump’s TikTookay account vowed to avenge Peanut on the poll field on Tuesday. At a Trump rally on Sunday, Marjorie Taylor Greene spewed her normal vile drivel on immigration, solely this time she conscripted poor useless Peanut to her trigger.
Will the saga of Peanut sway the election? It’s unimaginable to say, however it seems to be a determined Eleventh-hour ploy by some on the precise. However it ought to be famous that they’re solely rallying round Peanut. MAGA has already forgotten about Fred.
Wait, so why do individuals preserve calling Peanut P’Nut, or PNut?
In 2022, after Peanut had amassed legions of followers, Longo created an OnlyFans. His deal with is @Squirrel_Daddy and his bio is “Peanut’s dad, VERY kinky player .” Maybe that is what impressed Longo to abbreviate Peanut into P’Nut or PNut. Longo advised TMZ that Peanut’s fame drove large visitors to his OnlyFans and advised the DEC go to might have come from ulterior motives, maybe from a neighbor sad with Longo’s aspect hustle. Did the late Peanut make an look in any of Longo’s OnlyFans movies? That may be a secret for Longo’s subscribers, and I’m happy to guarantee you that no Defector {dollars} had been spent within the making of this weblog.
Cool. So why does all this matter once more?
Nice query; it does not. Thanks for studying!