(CNN) - In the ongoing battle between a pack of particularly ambitious raccoons and the White House groundskeepers, the raccoons appear to be winning.
According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, no raccoons have been caught on the White House grounds since the band of intruders were first spotted roaming the premises earlier this month.
The National Parks service set up several traps around the White House lawn earlier this week after determining one large raccoon and several smaller ones were causing trouble around the West Wing and the Executive Mansion.
If and when the raccoons are caught they will be released into the wild, the National Park Service has said.
But the traps, which include peanut butter and apples as bait, have yet to allure any of the pesky mammals.
"No raccoons that I know of have been caught or disbursed into other places in Washington," said Gibbs.
The White House press secretary also said he would be of little use in the hunt: "There are a few that roam in my backyard, so I don't have any particular tips."
From CNN Politics
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This is not news.
Every raccoon knows that peanut butter with apples is entrapment food, so they'll stay away. Try table leftovers and a big bowl of water for that after dinner wash-up. And most likely, those raccoons are a family unit.
A bit of advice. If you wish to get rid of the racoons, just spread large amounts of cayenne pepper around the areas they have been seen. It works like a charm, their sensitive noses can't stand the stuff, the hotter the better. Maybe they will end up around the senate office building, where the senators can argue, and argue about what to do with them. They will probably hire Sarah Palin to come in with her helicopter to get rid of the pests. Can't wait to see the you tube on that.
Peanut Butter! What? Are they trying to poison them? (just kidding)
They must be looking for a bailout too.
@ Anonymous – The racial tone is very clear. It's sad that someone probably released the racoons onto the grounds.
PULLLEASE!! Only a racist moron would see this as being racist.
Use marshmallows for bait. I know the raccoons that used to come to my backyard LOVED them!!
Traps?? Get one red neck, pay him $20 and say he can use the meat to feed his family. Problem solved! Very economical and "green" too!
I'm with Gene. Just cut little Sar-Sar loose with her AK 47 or something and the problem will be solved !
Seriously, "anonymous" you want to make this racial?? How ridiculous is that!
A raccoon bit Mayor Bloomberg when he was at a Groundhog Day ceremony in NY. These little critters are not joking with polticians.
To catch a racoon in a live trap the best bait to use is an open can of sardines. You must also secure the trap to the ground as these varmits are very smart, and will turn over the trap to get a free meal. Good luck, and good hunting!
Good for the raccoons. We all deserve a place on this earth and what better place than the White House.
Thank goodness our President is a caring human being and not some trigger happy has been.
Try marshmellows – we had a racoon problem and caught them using marshmellows, which they can not resist.
This is a stupid story. The headline is misleading. No where in the story does it say that there are any raccoons in the WH. But you think the story is cute and funny. You are amazing. The story is a worthless , not worthy of being printed, however I am sure it made someone day.
Good luck. The racoons in my parent's yard sneak into their house through my parent's dog door. They are smart, hard to trap, and very pesky. Even if you catch them in the trap, they are able to escape. Mary D
You can use peanut butter to bait a racoon. But what works better is to use shiny objects, like aluminum foil or little mirrors. Try those in the traps instead.
This is about as non-newsworthy as it gets. Thanks CNN.
Cute but destructive. My husband and I had a family of racoons living in our attic and I would listen to them run up and down at night. It was funny, but they sure did make a mess.
Raccons? Can this not be more obvious!
I don't like the racial undertone but I do think the White House has been invaded by a person that is going to turn the country upside if something isn't done about it!
It's obvious. The raccoons are Republican spies! I know that may sound far-fetched, but no more so than some of the other whacky ideas the kook libs have thrown up on these posts.
I bet they can even tell that the stimulus plan is garbage. Hmm, maybe that's why they're hanging around.
Get rid of them they are a big carrier of rabies.
Traps with sardines and juice from the can is what works to catch raccoon's. Believe me, it worked at my house in Houston.
I used to used fish
Not news, move on to continue fixing problems. We can goof off when we're back on track again.
I'd worry more about republican rabies than racoon rabies.
On another note, I'll bet Palin is saying this is one more reason she and McCain should have been elected. She would have used a moose gun on a racoon.