1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. But more than dogs have lived in the White House. Gilberto "Chito" Shedden has had the killer reptile as . Name the U.S. President who sometimes let a couple of pet alligators loose to wander from room to room in the White House. Benjamin Harrison kept a goat, Rutherford Hayes kept a Siamese cat, and Teddy Roosevelt had a zoo as unusual pets for presidents. President Barack Obama adopted Portuguese water dogs Bo and Sunny during his two terms, and he was often seen walking them on the White House lawn with his family. The reason for the president chosing that name for his dog is lost to history. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. When John Quincy Adams was a guest, he used a crocodile to scare them. In the modern age you hear of all these celebrities owning exotic pets. So where did she get it? President Martin van Buren fought Congress to keep two tiger cubs. With Javier Bardem, Winslow Fegley, Shawn Mendes, Constance Wu. Hilarity ensued when members of Congress and others asked to be excused to use the lavatory. Schwartz, Thomas F. "Not a Croc: The Hoover Alligators." For most Americans, when the president comes to town they dress up in their best red, white and blue, wave a miniature stars and stripes and hope the most powerful leader in the western world will give 'em a smile. Here's how that story was synopsized in a 1997 syndicated trivia column by L.M. This animal is the largest of the carnivorous kind I ever saw". Then again, you realize that in Roosevelt's world, a thrown badger was probably a common form of greeting. Florida Alligator Will Be White House Pet. By all outward appearances, her various pursuits are going well. , ISBN-13 , Grade level Nixons final pet was a French poodle named Vicky. James Garfield who was the 20th American president had an all-black Newfoundland dog, named Veto. 9 May 1890. Which president has the craziest pet? We have to assume that the whole affair took place in fast-motion while somebody played "Yakety Sax" in the background. Photograph by Herbert French, PhotoQuest, Getty Images. Van Buren loved the animals, and battled Congress to be allowed to keep them in the White House. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. Pocho (around 1950-1960 - 12 October 2011) was a Costa Rican crocodile who gained international attention for his relationship of over 20 years with Gilberto "Chito" Shedden, a local fisherman who found Pocho dying on the banks of the Reventazn River and nursed him back to health. Running to show his father, Quentin interrupted an important meeting and dropped the snakes all over his father's desk! Farm animals have also had their turn. Reptile City is the perfect place for reptile enthusiasts of all levels of interest and expertise. Still, badgers are fierce little bastards and one wonders how the little girl was able to even get a hold of one, let alone hurl it at a passing Theodore Roosevelt as his train pulled out of some backwater train station in Kansas. We can't disprove these accounts, mind you, but given the journalistic standards of the day it would be wise to take them with a grain of salt. Nixons other dogs were frequently seen playing with the lively Pasha. Played 19 times. But President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) outdid them all, owning dozens of animals including a one-legged rooster, dogs, cats, horses, a pony, snakes, kangaroo rats, a flying squirrel and a badger named Josiah who had a penchant for nipping peoples legs. When in doubt, sacrifice a limb. Indonesian woman mauled to death by giant pet crocodile Marquis de Lafayette was a French general who played an important part during the Revolutionary War. Strewth! Obama gets free croc insurance for Darwin stop Start the day smarter Take our news quiz . All About the US Presidents' Dogs [Full List] - The Dogs Journal We earn $400,000 and spend beyond our means. : FDR was a huge fan of animals, and Harry was his favorite pet. George Gordon Byron attended Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1805 to 1808. Crocodile eats small dog after years of torment - CBS News It has become a very popular trope on social media: Happy Presidents' Day. Over the course of the next 25 years, Billy got busy getting busy with Hannah. President George W. Bush had Barney, a Scottish terrier. The legislative branch claimed that the cubs had been sent to the United States while Andrew Jackson was still president, and they were therefore the property of the U.S., and not Van Buren. In all, she gave birth to 15 of his children. Byron in 1804. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Willow, U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden's new pet cat, is seen in a White House handout photo as she wanders . During an 1825 tour of the United States, French revolutionary hero the Marquis de Lafayette visited the White House. And, lastly, here is our favorite alligators-in-the-White-House story, as told in 1890 (the second year of President Benjamin Harrison's term in office) by the Washington correspondent of theNew York Tribune, via the San Francisco Chronicle: Russell Harrison's Alligator Didn't Influence His Friends' Luck. Irwan, the reptile's owner, said he bought the animal 20 years ago from local fishermen who were planning to kill it. Unauthorized use is prohibited. However, theres a chance that maybe the general Lafayette mentioned giving the president an alligator gift and he might have made a joke about how funny it would be to keep it to prank people. Ok, so the choice of pet itself isn't exactly unusual. Adams decided to lodge the reptile in the then-unfinished East Room of the White House, which had its own bath tub. It's unknown what possessed Lafayette to hand deliver the gators but it can be surmised there was a lost in translation moment somewhere along the way, resulting in a pair of real alligators instead of, say, alligator shoes. You might suspect that Old Whiskers was a nickname for the 23rd president, a stodgy ol' coot with more than a passing resemblance to Obi Wan Kenobi but it was in fact the name of the goat he shared an address with, which was given to Ben's grandchildren by the ol' coot himself. The commander in chief also had two Scottish terriers named Barney and Miss Beazley, but Spotty was the only pet to live in the White House during two administrations. If there was ever a creature that hated spending time at the White House more than George W. Bush, it was Old Whiskers. , Reading age So Quentin put the animal on the White House elevator and brought him to Archie's upstairs room. A new study has found that this 2,000-year-old crocodile mummy was embalmed right after its death. Previous page of related Sponsored Products. Long before our nation had animal rights organizations and activists, some exotic animals took up residence at the White House. So there is the question of where the alligator came from and according to the website snopes.com, the only written record they came across was The White House and Its 33 Families by Amy La Follette Jensen. 10 Facts You Didnt Know About Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Plodding Through the Presidents blog. So revered were certain animals in ancient Egyptian culture that these creatures were routinely mummified as sacrifices to the gods. 3) Powerful Bite: Remember that the title of the most powerful bite in the animal kingdom belongs to a crocodilian; and while the dwarf caiman is a fraction of the size of a saltwater crocodile, they are still deceivingly powerful animals capable of inflicting a serious wound on inexperienced reptile handlers. A selection of land turtles gathered from the woods was all right; but two small alligators, presented to him by Clarence Woolley, were somewhat of a trial, for Allan believed they must be bedded at night in the bathtubs. At this time Hoover was living at 2300 S Street in Washington, DC and Allan was roughly fourteen years old. Along with a menagerie of dogs, cats, horses and birds, presidents and their families also had pet snakes, raccoons, bears, cows, mice, and more. President Lyndon Johnson had two pet beagles, Him and Her. Associated Press. There's a certain irony to capturing and enslaving an animal from a country that was founded by freed slaves from the United States, but we digress Firestone believed the pygmy hippo would make a wonderful gift for President Coolidge, already a collector of strange and exotic pets. Or they would have laughed about it if they had later found it funny and hilarious. PRESIDENTIAL POSSUM. Crocodile | Habitat, Description, Teeth, & Facts | Britannica The flock not only saved the administration the trouble of mowing the lawn, but Wilson sold the wool to raise money for the American Red Cross during World War I. Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley speaks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that's taking place just outside Washington, D.C. Nicole Lyn Pesce is News Editor, Trending at MarketWatch and is based in New York. There's a wee grain of truth in that (as we learned from theblogof the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum), but the fact is that Hoover's son, who graduated from Stanford University the same year his father was elected and went straight from there to Harvard Business School, never resided at the White House. [16] This made Spotty the first animal to live in the White House under two different administrations, having been born there in 1989 and . The book itself takes on the feel of a combination story/activity book that kids will enjoy filling out after reading what's essentially a creatively-written history lesson. In this case, it was zookeepers from across the country. Some were given exotic pets by foreign dignitaries, with President John Quincy Adams keeping an alligator in a bathtub. But some presidents have brought somewhat more exotic pets with them to the White House, with Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge owning a large menageries during their times. : Sir Crocodile, formerly known as Mr. 0, is a major antagonist in the One Piece franchise. During Andrew Johnsons presidency, he kept mice in the White House and fed them to them. They shot the other one dead, too, since once you get into the bear-shooting groove it's actually really hard to stop. A. Actually, make food a whole lot better too. Cheryl Barnes is one of those rare people you meet who is doing it all, and in Cheryl's case, with style and grace. Bookmark. Old Whitey, a wartime mount Apollo, a former circus pony. which president had a pet crocodile. : He was given the alligator by the Smithsonian Institution and kept it in a bathtub in the White House. But it turned out "pygmy hippo" was a misleading term (no doubt coined by the crooked hippo pet industry) and Billy eventually grew too big to stay at the White House. In order to do his part for the war effort at home, Wilson brought in a flock sheep to graze the White House lawn which allowed the administration to do away with the groundskeeper and his crew, quite possibly the first migrant workers who were actually removed from a menial job no one else wanted to do. The two made lousy parents, culminating in the death of their third child when Hannah rolled over and crushed it. It worked! Thu, Feb 23, 2023 LOGIN Subscribe for $1 Mahajangasuchus: 100.5-66 million years ago, estimated to be 16 feet long . which president had a pet crocodile - na99jo.com And so, little Josiah the badger passed from Kansas flatland to White House opulence. George W. and Laura Bushs Scottish terrier Barney became a star in his own right in 2002 after he was featured in the White House Christmas video, and the Barney Cam co-starring fellow terrier Miss Beazley became an annual White House tradition during Bushs tenure. I am Romero Esposito, and I am passionate about reptiles. In terms of the nominations, Theodore Roosevelt is tied with Franklin D. Roosevelt. Once he borrowed a bunch of snakes from a pet store. If you are interested in these magnificent creatures and have fallen in love with them, then you might want to know some crocodile names. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. Even Crocodylus can turn out to be a great name for your pet! The memo, however, was not sent to Captain Zebulon Pike who headed his own expedition later. Most of us imagine cats, dogs, birds or even fishes, when we hear the word pet. He helped the colonists against the British. Then in 2013, the Obamas brought home a second Portuguese water dog, Sunny. John Adams was the second US president, but the first to reside in the White House. He had an unusual gift for then president John Quincy Adams: an alligator. Which President Kept An Alligator In The White House 0. We agree with Dorre, and rate the John Quincy Adams story "Unproven.". which president had a pet crocodile - prostarsolares.com Firman said he got the . All rights reserved. The White House and Its Thirty-Three Families. Pauline Wayne was quite the heifer herself, although how the Holstein got the name Pauline Wayne is unknown. Bush kept English springer spaniel Millie and her pup, Ranger; and Ronald Reagan owned several dogs. Lafayette brought with him that day a gift for President Adams: two alligators. #361 in Children's Alligator & Crocodile Books (Books) #3,428 in Children's Pet Books (Books) #4,268 in Children's American Historical Fiction (Books) Will you climb mountains and cross deserts to save the Sheriffs horse? In the end, Chito decided Pocho could stay as a member of his family. Visit #MightyMike ? Among them, a tobacco chewing ram called Old Ike. AN ALLIGATOR HAS JUST TRIED TO EAT MY NOBLE SCROTUM!". The Sultan of Oman gave Martin Van Buren, the eighth president, a pair of tiger cubs. President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) was given a pair of tiger cubs by the Sultan of Oman, but Congress confiscated them. Source: White House Historical Association. Harry, the hyena, was king of the wild animals until recently. But in 1903, one little girl--perhaps the most awesome little girl ever born--decided to throw a badger. (Wheres YouTube when you need it?). President Adams' Alligator: and Other White House Pets (Little Patriot Press), Hardcover Picture Book, February 4, 2013. Although the story is highly circulated they have been no evidence to back it up. He brought his collection of creatively named pets with him. Bad news that cult recovery group just might be a cult, Below you, an entire other world operates. And so, Old Ike kept watch over his flock and swallowed copious amounts of tobacco. President George W. Bush became president in 2001, eight years after his father, President George H.W. The reptile has made the news, too. The most popular pet by some way is a dog, owned by 30 of the 45 presidents. Finding no sources cited in the article, we decided to look into both stories for ourselves, beginning with the tale of Gen. Lafayette re-gifting an alligator to John Quincy Adams. Mr. Ruby Design Company. Visit a quote page and your recently viewed tickers will be displayed here. Residents of the White House have had fur and feathers, claws and hooves, scales, stripes and prehensile tails. She gave birth to Spotty, who moved into the White House with the seocond President Bush! Finally, Old Whiskers decided he'd towed the bratty grandkids for the last fucking time. President Roosevelt owned a menagerie. which president had a pet crocodile. It was a gift from Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette. The crocodile refused to return to the wild and chose to stay with Chito. While she spent her days being pregnant, Billy continued to sew his wild oats with another hippo gal pal, Matilda, who popped out an additional eight kids. noble soccer tournament 2021 how to get gems in phase 10: world tour army covid pt test policy which president had a pet crocodile. Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. After having hid Pocho in a covered pond nearby for some time, Chito tried to release the animal back into the wildbut Pocho refused to leave! The author was able to properly name every president except the current one. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. The True Story of John Quincy Adam's Pet Alligator Which President had an alligator as a pet? In fact, most modern presidents have owned cats and dogs. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. What a delightful time we, my 5 and 7 year old Grandsons, had reading this. Anyway, he went about his business on the White House lawn, boinking the sheep until there were 18 of 'em, munching away at the grass and supplying wool which was auctioned off to help the Salvation Army, a group whose beliefs prevented members from drinking and smoking. The first is an Associated Press item, dated 9 February 1921, announcing the impending arrival of a new White House pet in the company of President-elect Warren G. Harding: Florida Alligator Will Be White House Pet. President Andrew Jackson was an ex-soldier born in a Tennessee log cabin, known for his love of swearing. Among them were a pair of mongrel dogs named Juno and Satan, and a horse named Cleopatra. "John Quincy Adams's Pet Alligator Was a Crock." Please whitelist in order to read our content as well as support our work. During Nixons presidency, these furry friends provided him with comfort and support during some of his most difficult times. The raccoon was later named Rebecca, and the first lady, Grace, would walk her on a bedazzled leash. One broke free and managed to corner the museum owner in the kitchen, upon which the animal was promptly shot dead. And dogs and cats remain the most common furbabies. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. We were unable to locate any earlier published references to Lafayette and his alligators, a result confirmed by presidential history blogger Howard Dorre, who reports finding no primary sources confirming the anecdote at all. The pony was a present from then Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, and became a well-known sight on White House grounds, where it roamed freely. Crocodiles are one of the most feared animals in the world. But this viral video will make you rethink about the very definition of the word.
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