Rebecca (raccoon)


Rebecca was a raccoon kept as a pet by US president Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge.
Rebecca came from Mississippi.
She had been sent to the White House to be served for the 1926 Thanksgiving dinner, but the Coolidges decided to keep her as a pet instead. For Christmas, an embroidered collar was made for her, inscribed with the title: "White House Raccoon". She enjoyed participating in the annual White House Easter egg roll.
She was fed shrimp and persimmons, and eggs were a favorite; she was let loose in the White House, and walked on a leash outdoors. At times, she could be mischievous, known to unscrew lightbulbs, open cabinets and unpot houseplants.
As First Lady Grace wrote:
When the Coolidges took a vacation in the Black Hills, they brought Rebecca along in a basket, together with two of their dogs, Rob Roy and Prudence Prim as well as five canaries.
As a companion for Rebecca, Reuben, a male raccoon, was acquired by a White House police officer. Reuben frequently escaped, being recovered by White House staff; but, he ultimately disappeared without a trace.
In preparation for leaving the White House at the end of the president's term in 1929, the Coolidges donated Rebecca to the zoological quarters in Rock Creek Park in Washington DC. Herbert Hoover was next to occupy the White House; soon thereafter, a wild opossum decided to occupy Rebecca's vacant tree-house and was "adopted" by the Hoovers and named "Billy Possum".