Have you heard of the swamp rabbit?
It is a variety of cottontail rabbit that lives in the swamps and wetlands of the United States!
Here are some swamp rabbit facts from The Nature Conservancy in Indiana:
– The swamp rabbit is the largest cottontail in North Ameria.
– It can swim, and it must live near water for its diet of reeds and swampy grasses.
– It can hide from predators by sitting in water with just its nose sticking out.
– One tried to jump in to a canoe paddled by President Jimmy Carter in Georgia in 1979. The press dubbed it the “Killer Rabbit,” after the rabbit in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Here is a photo of the incident:
President Carter splashed the rabbit to keep it from jumping in with him. It seems that the rabbit and the President were both unharmed.
Ah, Sylvilagus aquaticus. I’m old enough to remember Carter’s rabbit incident. I suppose it would freak a person out to see a rabbit swimming towards your boat.
Dude. The existence of swamp rabbits has just blown my mind in the most awesome way possible.
Tom Paxton did a song about the rabbit, which is how I’m familiar with the incident. (though I didn’t realize it was a swamp rabbit!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFAOCBY8zrI
WOW, that’s scary! The rabbit swimming towards the boat!!! Crazy!