US authorities seize Instagram-famous squirrel

The man who cares for an internet-famous squirrel named Peanut is asking New York authorities to return him after he was confiscated by authorities.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) searched Mark Longo's home Wednesday after complaints that the animal may have been unsafely housed.

“To the group of people who called DEC, there is a special place in hell for you,” Mr. Longo said in an Instagram post announcing the seizure, adding that he did not know if the ash-colored rodent had been euthanized.

A petition calling for the animal's return had more than 20,000 signatures as of Friday morning.

In subsequent posts on Instagram on Thursday, Mr. Longo said he was raising money for legal fees against the DEC.

A DEC statement said an investigation was launched after receiving “multiple reports from the public regarding the potentially unsafe housing of wild animals that could transmit rabies and the illegal keeping of wild animals as pets.”

The squirrel's current condition has not been made clear by the DEC.

Mr. Longo took Peanut in seven years ago after discovering his mother's baby squirrel that had been hit by a car.

He cared for Peanut until he was strong enough to be released, but said he found Peanut back on his porch the next morning “with a piece of his tail missing.”

Since then, Peanut's Instagram account has amassed more than 500,000 followers.

The account features videos of Peanut performing skits with Mr. Longo, occasionally wearing hats, often climbing over him or being hugged, and regularly eating waffles.

During the raid, the DEC also seized a raccoon that Mr. Longo had acquired in recent months and which he named Fred.