Peanut the Instagram squirrel is in state custody in New York

Officials raided Mark Longo's home, where he was keeping the wild squirrel without a licence. They also seized a raccoon named Fred

A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.

Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut — also spelled P’Nut or PNUT — brought at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to Mark Longo’s home near the Pennsylvania border in rural Pine City on Wednesday, Longo said.