A man who adopted an orphaned squirrel he found injured in the street is now inseparable from the creature – with the duo doing everything from working out to laundry together.
Mark Longo, 31, an engineer from Connecticut, US, adopted his pet squirrel, Peanut, after spotting the animal while on a walk.
He found the five-week-old critter wandering alone along a busy street after its mother had been run over by a car.
Peanut was injured with only one eye open and a bad back leg.
Instead of running away, the baby squirrel crawled up Mark’s leg and refused to leave his sight.
Mark decided to take him home and nurse him back to health before releasing the creature in his backyard.
However, Peanut was attacked by another animal who bit off half of his tail – so Mark decided to adopt the defenceless critter and move him permanently inside.
The pair are now inseparable and do everything together, including eating breakfast, watching television and snuggle each other.
When Mark gets ready in the morning or runs errands around the house, Peanut always crawls up to perch on his shoulder.
“Peanut and I do pretty much everything together,” Mark told Jam Press.
“He comes to hang out while I get dressed and brush my teeth.
“We eat breakfast together every morning and we snuggle at night and watch TV along with my cat, Chloe.
“Peanut even helps with the laundry.
“No matter what I’m doing, Peanut is always on my shoulder making sure I’m doing everything right.”
Mark has created a TikTok page for Peanut, which has amassed over 374,900 followers – with videos of the squirrel’s hilarious antics.
In one post, Peanut is swimming in a bowl of oats while Mark makes breakfast.
Mark said: “My favourite story with Peanut is how he becomes so obsessed with oatmeal.
“I was making breakfast one day and forgot my phone in my room.
“I quickly went to get it but left my oatmeal container open by mistake.
“I came back downstairs to find Peanut’s entire body in the container. I don’t know why he loves it but he’s obsessed!”
Other videos show the adorable animal following his owner everywhere he goes.
One clip shows Peanut sitting on Mark while eating food, following him to do laundry and even resting on his arm while he lifts a pair of dumbbells.
“This squirrel loves you BIG!!” one user wrote.
“That’s so cute I want one like that,” another person added.
“AWESOME!! Me too but a different species!! Excellent job working with him!,” someone else commented.
“So sweet. Your little buddy does everything with you,” a fourth person wrote.
“This is to cool!!! I’d luv a sidekick like that,” another user added.
Mark also has a two-year-old cat, named Chloe, who he adopted from a shelter two years ago.
At first, Mark was nervous about how Chloe and Peanut would get along – but the animals are now the best of friends.
He added: “I rescued Chloe about two years ago from a shelter where she was living with a lot of other kittens.
“I was so nervous about getting another animal because of Peanut, but Chloe and Peanut fell in love with each other the moment they met.
“I think Chloe thought Peanut was a weird-looking kitty.
“They play all day long together and even sit in the same window and people-watch.”
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