White House Pets: The Roosevelt Zoo

Written By Monica Michelle

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Theodore Roosevelt’s White House Zoo

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of I Can’t Believe That Happened, a 10 minute history podcast for kids and curious grownups.

Today we are going to talk about Theadore Roosevelt, who along with his children had the most amount of pets in the White House, over 40!

Just a reminder, I put wrong fact in every episode. If you find it head over to our website

and message me. Next episode I'll give you a shout out.

Now let us talk all about the Untied States past president and amateur zoo keeper Teddy Roosevelt.

For a general list we have

  • Bill, a lizard

  • Jonathan Edwards a bear said to be named for one of his wife’s relatives.

  • Admiral Dewey and Dr. Johnson two, we must assumes, very literate guinea pigs.

  • Maude the pig

  • Josiah a badger who one of Roosevelt’s sons would carry by its’ waist in an ambling hug of sorts.

  • Eli Yale a blue Macaw

  • Baron Speckle a hen

  • Fierce a one legged rooster

  • Peter the rabbit

  • Algonquin the pony was so beloved by Roosevelt’s son Archie, that when the boy was bedridden with measles his brothers brought the pony to him using the white house’s elevator. It is said the pony enjoyed the elevator’s mirror and his reflection so much it was very difficult to move him.

  • So many snakes. Quentin, one of the six children, as a young boy stopped at a pet store and bought 4 snakes. He rushed into the Oval Office where his father was having an important meeting and placed the snakes on the table. A very inventive and effective way to clear a room.

  • Alice Roosevelt , who deserves her own episode, was known for keeping her garter snake, Emily Spinach, in her purse. She also had a fruit bat she named Vlad.  Alice had a small black Pekingese named Manchu, which she received from the last empress of China during a trip to the Far East. Alice once claimed to have seen Manchu dancing on its hind legs in the moonlight on the White House lawn.

Her father was known for saying that he could either run a country or control his daughter but he could not do both. I promise we will have an episode for Alice someday.

  • Many, many dogs but I do wish I could have seen Rolo a St. Bernard.

  • Tom Quartz and Slipper were the family’s cats

  • 2 kangaroo rats

  • A flying squirrel!

  • Other animals zebra, wildcat, lion, and a barn owl.

Knowing that Theodore Roosevelt had a love of animals many dignitaries gifted him animals from their home country. This is a long standing practice. After this episode go check out The Polar Bear in the Thames.

Many of these gifts were not housed at the White House but found a home in the local Zoo.

Thank you for tuning in! Please send me a message from our website if you found the mistake.

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To see pictures and some of my own watercolors of the Roosevelt’s pets please visit our show notes or our website www.owlandtwine.com.

You can find our episodes, children’s books, and artwork here.

Thanks for listening to the I Can’t Believe That Happened! We hope you learned something new today. Until next time, keep exploring the past!"

Sources

Monica Michelle
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