pet, n.Trivia

Andrew Jackson’s parrot had to be removed from his funeral because it wouldn’t stop swearing.

July 5 is the busiest day for animal shelters because so many pets run away in fear

Ants not only cultivate their own food (fungi) but also keep pets (aphids) & started doing so long before humans

In Ancient Rome, the most popular pets were Ferrets (for rodents), dogs (for security), and monkeys (for entertainment).

Hitler had a pet alligator named Saturn who is still alive and well and living at the Moscow Zoo.

In Japan, pets outnumber children. The country has an estimated 22 million pets, but only 16.6 million children under the age of 15

Lord Byron, kept a pet bear in his dormitory while studying at Cambridge.

John Quincy Adams had a pet alligator (given to him by a French general) which he kept in one of the White House bathtubs

Theodore Roosevelt’s kids had a pet bear, badger, and hyena in the White House

Calvin Coolidge pardoned a raccoon for Thanksgiving 1926 and kept her as a pet at the White House.

Central American stingless bees have been cultivated by Mayans for thousands of years, and have been regarded as pets with their hives hung in and around the home. Some hives have been recorded to last over 80 years, being passed down through the generations.

Woodrow Wilson had sheep graze on the White House lawn to save money for the war effort

Cats have long been pets --- The oldest known pet cat existed 9,500 years ago

cats are the most popular pet in the US (at about 88 million)