P’nut The Squirrel memes reference the animal, also known as Peanut, that was euthanized after gaining a huge Instagram following. The little guy became internet famous following a rescue by owner Mark Longo and was technically an illegally kept wild animal.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation allegedly learned about P’nut due to reports from concerned viewers of his Instagram videos and raided Longo’s home, seizing the squirrel and putting him down after he bit one of the handlers. Grieving fans are comforting each other with memes, while others use his story for political gain.
Meme basics
- Meme Creator: Mark Longo
- Meme Type: Reactions
- First Appearance: Nov. 2, 2024
- Origin Source: Instagram
- Used to Convey: Grief / Contempt for government overreach
- Peak Popularity: Early Nov. 2024
P’nut’s origin story
In 2017, Longo took P’nut, an eastern gray squirrel, into his home after witnessing a car hit the baby squirrel’s mother. After eight months in the family home, Longo released the fully grown P’nut into the wild. However, after the animal returned with an injured tail, they realized that he likely wouldn’t be able to survive on his own.
Longo and family welcomed P’nut back into their home, where he became a viral hit on Instagram. The squirrel remained a family pet and best friend for seven years before the state intervened. His surviving loved ones are now raising money for a non-profit organization in his name, the P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.
@changedotorg Two days after he was removed from his home, P'nut the squirrel was euthanized by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. More than 30,000 people came together to demand that the famous squirrel be returned to his owner and rescuer Mark Alongo. To read the petition or start your own, click the link in our bio. @Peanut_the_squirrel12 @P’nuts Freedom Farm #peanutthesquirrel #squirrels #pets #wildlife #animals ♬ original sound – Change.org
Why did they euthanize P’nut The Squirrel?
On Oct. 30, 2024, Department of Environmental Conservation personnel entered the Longo home, allegedly without a warrant, to seize both P’nut and another unauthorized pet—a raccoon named Fred. According to the DEC, the squirrel bit one of the workers as they handled him. They put both animals down on Nov. 2 in order to test for rabies.
Though a sad story, many cases of people keeping wild animals as pets without the proper training end in improper care for the creatures and/or injury to the owner. Rabies, in particular, is an extremely dangerous illness that can be fatal to humans.
Longo blamed anonymous reports for the seizure and euthanization of P’nut and Fred and claimed that he was in the process of obtaining the necessary license to care for non-domesticated animals like squirrels and raccoons.
What do P’nut The Squirrel memes look like?
There are two basic forms of P’nut The Squirrel memes right now. The first are jokes that often mix humor with genuine sadness over the little guy’s passing, similar to other animal death memes.
People have already memorialized P’nut in fan art alongside depictions of Harambe.
The second type comes from right-wing individuals, led by Elon Musk, who are using this tragic story to push the idea that government overreach is a massive problem and tell people to vote for Donald Trump.
Cultural context: The 2024 election
Fearmongering about U.S. government overreach has been a large part of Republican campaigning for decades. Musk himself complained about this because the government was attempting to regulate his companies. On Nov. 2, Musk tweeted out an AI-generated image of a squirrel with a lightsaber and Jedi robes with a famous Star Wars quote.
“If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine,” it reads. Musk attributes the quote to “Obi PNut Kenobi.”
Other AI images involving squirrels soon followed on Twitter, and P’nut soon became a right-wing martyr without input from his grieving owners. Memes include Wojaks explaining that P’nut’s demise explains why there should be little to no restrictions on gun ownership as if Longo should have shot DEC workers to protect a squirrel.
Because Donald Trump has vowed to restrict the powers of certain areas of the government (as long as it’s not his own), P’nut is now being used to tell fans to vote for this candidate. JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have also commented on the situation.
More P’nut The Squirrel memes
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- Meme History: The story of Harambe the Gorilla, 2016’s most important meme
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