Since the 1913 death of Horace Vose, the traditional provider of the White House Thanksgiving turkey, numerous farmers had been angling to provide the President's Thanksgiving meal, and despite Coolidge's requests to stop the practice in 1923, the unsolicited gifts continued and became increasingly unusual, with the live raccoon being the furthest out of the ordinary fare.

[6] As First Lady Grace wrote:[4] We had a house made for her in one of the large trees, with a wire fence built around it for protection.

In this fashion she would amuse herself for an hour or more.As a companion for Rebecca, Reuben, a male raccoon, was acquired by a White House police officer.

[8] When the Coolidges took a vacation in the Black Hills, they brought Rebecca along in a basket, together with two of their dogs,[9] Rob Roy and Prudence Prim as well as five canaries on the 1,800-mile railroad journey.

[1][8] In preparation for leaving the White House at the end of the president's term in 1929, the Coolidges donated Rebecca to the zoological quarters in Rock Creek Park (now the National Zoo) in Washington, DC.