Why is first lady Grace Coolidge holding a trash panda during the White House Easter egg hunt in 1927?

In late November 1926, a live animal sent by one Vinnie Joyce of Nitta Yuma, Mississippi, arrived at the White House to be slaughtered and served up for that year’s Thanksgiving dinner. President Calvin Coolidge, however, became smitten by the beast and instead granted it a pardon. The lucky creature was no turkey, though, but a raccoon....

President Coolidge quickly grew attached to his new pet. Rebecca became the president’s companion walking around the White House grounds on a leash during the day, and at night she would crawl up into her master’s lap in front of the fireplace....

Rebecca was the star of the annual Easter Egg Roll in 1927, but she was hardly at ease around 30,000 shrieking children and the incessant clicking of swarming photographers. The Washington Evening Star reported that Rebecca “plainly evidenced her dislike for the whole doings” by clawing at the First Lady and the children before she was returned to the solitude of the White House quarters for everyone’s safety.