He wasn’t a peanut farmer, he was a peanut broker... farmers have more common sense than that fool and aren’t scared of rabbits.
I am no Carter fan but I think he got a bum rap on the rabbit story. I don’t think he was really afraid of a rabbit but having raised rabbits for meat I can assure you that you don’t want to be bitten by one, their teeth can shred wood and if I were in a fishing boat and a rabbit swam across the water toward me I would probably think of the possibility of rabies and would swat said rabbit with my paddle. A rabbit swimming is unusual and swimming toward an occupied boat is even more unusual.