ANNIVERSARY OF JIMMY CARTER'S KILLER RABBIT ATTACK

ANNIVERSARY OF JIMMY CARTER'S KILLER RABBIT ATTACK

PLAINS, Ga. (Wireless Flash) -- Monday (Aug. 30) will mark the 20th anniversary of a date former President Jimmy Carter would probably rather forget: the day he was attacked by a so-called "killer rabbit." On August 30, 1979, Carter was fishing in a pond near Plains, Georgia, when he suddenly noticed a "robust-looking" rabbit swimming straight to his boat. Although Carter shooed away the belligerent bunny with an oar and later dismissed the incident as no big deal, he made the mistake of announcing it to the press which had a field day writing up "killer rabbit" stories. According to Keith Shuler, an archivist at the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta, many folks doubted Carter's rabbit story at first because rabbits aren't known for swimming. However, photos later confirmed the animal attacking Carter was indeed a bunny. Although Carter's press secretary Jody Powell initially thought the "killer rabbit" story was funny and harmless, he later regretted the attention it received worldwide.