One of the most mysterious and hilarious stories in Parks and Recreation is Pawnee's terrible raccoon problem. The question is: why is it that raccoons are such a big issue in the small fictional town of Indiana?

We already know that the raccoon challenge has been an issue for decades. Heck, this is why Leslie was born at a hospital in Eagleton, a neighboring rival town free of this ridiculous pest problem.

Not even Pawnee hospital was free of the raccoon infestation when she was born.

In Leslie's fictional book, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, the neighboring town of Eagleton is entirely to blame for Pawnee's predicament. Allegedly, it all started in 1935 when Eagleton decided to use Pawnee as a landfill.

Still, that does not fully explain why the town is still infested with raccoons many decades later.

It turns out that Eagleton keeps Pawnee filled with raccoons on purpose. First of all, Eagleton does not have a single trash can, which is revealed when Leslie visits one of the town's parks.

When she throws trash on the ground, an employee immediately picks it up and thanks her for it. The town seems to have a huge budget to blow on waste management, which is why they even have a "horse dressage" department.

With a lot of funds dedicated to garbage collection, trash in Eagleton is picked up as soon as possible, which means raccoons don't stand a chance in Pawnee's hated neighbor. Therefore, these pests have no option but to go to the town of Pawnee, where they can easily get the trash.

Pawnee does not help the situation by having factories and fast food places that generate a lot of trash raccoons can feast on. In fact, the residents no longer seem to care about getting rid of this pest problem.

In any case, Pawnee's pest control department is underfunded and understaffed.

Sadly, or hilariously depending on how you see it, Pawnee also has a pretty serious possum problem. At one point, a possum bites the Mayor's dog.

There are even claims that Pawnee has a raccoon-possum hybrid with eight legs and can run at 30 miles an hour. Even so, it does not seem like the town of Pawnee is too keen on solving this perennial pest problem.