While most U.S. Presidents today have the standard variety of different dogs as White House pets, it didn’t always used to be that way. Did you know that one President actually had a baby pygmy hippo as a pet? Or that another actually had a pet alligator kept in a White House bathroom? It’s true, and it’s truly bizzare at the same time. But that’s only the beginning of the story…

President Calvin Coolidge was given a baby pygmy hippo from Harvey Firestone (Firestone Tires) to go along with several other types of pets that President Coolidge owned at the time. “Billy”, the pet hippo, was reportedly seen roaming the White House grounds on a few occasions. Later, he was donated to the zoo and was a partner in the births of several new pygmy hippo’s over the years.

One of the strangest pets any President could have would surely be the pet alligator that John Quincy Adams had. The gator took up residence in a bathroom on the East Wing of the White House for years. Story has it that President Adams would often times scare visitors to the White House by opening up the bathroom door!

Other notable pets over the years include the likes of cows, sheep, possums, goats, tigers, bear cubs, a badger and even gamecocks. When you stop to think about it, having White House dogs, even Barney, who bit the reporter the other day, seem to be pretty tame compared to what occurred years ago.