Do rabbits eat carrots because of Clark Gable?
Snack Stack
<h2 class="wp-block-heading has-tiny-font-size">A deep dive into a pop culture and food history conspiracy theory</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em><strong>Hello, Snackers. </strong>Movies have power, but can they change our entire understanding of what a specific animal likes to eat?</em></p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903060" height="204" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-1.png?w=1024" width="1024" /></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903251" height="565" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-17.png?w=1024" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Bugs, Clark, and a trio of bunnies from a vintage postcard.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A few days ago, while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a jaw-dropping claim that relates to carrots and rabbits, two things I like very much. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Here, watch for yourself:</p>
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<div class="embed-instagram"><blockquote class="instagram-media"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIo8xqEpVPD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="display: flex;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIo8xqEpVPD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Alex Schmidt (@alexschmidtstagram)</a></p></div></blockquote></div>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If that link isn’t working or you don’t feel like clicking, the gist of this post is that real rabbits aren’t huge fans of carrots, and our association between animal and vegetable is based not on nature but on a cartoon in which Bugs Bunny parodies Clark Gable in “It Happened One Night.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Fascinating, right? It’s one of those things that makes you go, “I never thought about it before, but <em>of course </em>that’s how that works!”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Of course wild rabbits aren’t going around digging up carrots just for a treat. They’re content with grass and clover and leaves and maybe the above-ground vegetables in the local gardens. <em>(Source: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/think-you-know-what-bunnies-and-bears-eat-their-diets-may-surprise-you/2019/09/20/bac528ea-ce5d-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html">The Washington Post</a>, many other publications, and the four rabbits I owned at various points when I was a kid.)</em></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Of course Hollywood is that influential. “Looney Toons” has shaped our culture in a million ways. (<em>Source: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=cultural+influences+of+looney+tunes+academic+article&sca_esv=088a4fa2f77d5085&udm=14&biw=1536&bih=695&sxsrf=AHTn8zpiUA5gmQTVrtZt283wbK8NmhRmEA%3A1746042588213&ei=3H4SaPbvDNG1wN4PnrScsAM&oq=cultural+influences+of+loony&gs_lp=Ehlnd3Mtd2l6LW1vZGVsZXNzLXdlYi1vbmx5IhxjdWx0dXJhbCBpbmZsdWVuY2VzIG9mIGxvb255KgIIADIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCjIFECEYnwUyBRAhGJ8FMgUQIRifBTIFECEYnwUyBRAhGJ8FMgUQIRifBUjLMVC1FliDHnACeAGQAQCYAXOgAecEqgEDMy4zuAEByAEA-AEBmAIIoAKJBcICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAgUQABiABMICCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFwgIGEAAYFhgewgIFECEYoAGYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwM0LjSgB7MysgcDMi40uAeBBQ&sclient=gws-wiz-modeless-web-only">more than a few academic articles</a></em>.) </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Of course … I had to do some fact-checking. At first it was just to satisfy my own curiosity but then I remembered that carrots are snacks and I can therefore justify writing up my findings and sharing them with you. </p>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Three questions here:</p>
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Is Bugs Bunny really imitating Clark Gable when he eats carrots?</li>
<li>Did Bugs Bunny create the cultural belief that rabbits love carrots?</li>
<li>If Bugs didn’t do it, <em>who did? </em></li>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Let’s take these in order. </p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is Bugs Bunny really imitating Clark Gable when he eats carrots?</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yes, this checks out. This fact is discussed (and first became public knowledge) in the documentary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_Bunny:_Superstar">“Bugs Bunny: Superstar,” released in 1975 </a>and narrated by Orson Welles (!!). The film tells the history of Looney Toons, up to that point, and includes other intriguing anecdotes about, for example, Porky Pig’s planned (but never created) sidekick, named Beans, and the public outcry over the fact that Tweety, the bird, was initially unclothed. <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-bugs-bunny-superst/171457337/">(Read all about it in this newspaper article from 1976.)</a></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Did Bugs Bunny create the cultural belief that rabbits love carrots?</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=217f17c28f4e2843&sxsrf=AHTn8zpnCBuMbb7QSG1ulAc_jaOmN5dgqg:1746070876735&q=it+happened+one+night+bugs+bunny&source=lnms&fbs=ABzOT_A-D3gqhGpKey3m541in_a4evouXlxf0ztaDDubgyT0ES35hj4GhQ5f9qJAc4Wc86dmOqTMXzrk_LXqmNVsiP1zL_-I8H23YyiMqiSZy-PL-Nb9T9OyL6kYhW5tQGgwtwKKl8Oc8Bc8ymNIheBHI6alPD5KVQwxcLfjuPDFeCGs43QW0tywo9kMYFACkfWIQu3-YSws8zg4isK70NzaaPO7TutLHkA-TsdJ9kA95s9AXVXITBU&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi56vDyrIGNAxXXlokEHQ-RO5cQ0pQJegQIExAB&biw=1536&bih=695&dpr=1.25">This is the big shocking revelation of that video and many others like it</a> (along with plenty of articles on the same subject).</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s easy to fact-check this. All we have to do is see if “bunnies eat carrots” was a common belief prior to 1940, the year that Bugs made his veggie-chomping debut in “A Wild Hare.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">One place to look: vintage Easter postcards, the easiest place to find rabbit illustrations over the years, and with the dates clearly stamped on them.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Here’s one from 1911. <em><a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/365409579512">(Source: postmark.)</a></em></p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903254" height="609" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-18.png?w=960" width="960" /></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Another from around the same time, I think. <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/375417164751"><em>(Source: typefaces and handwriting look older than 1940.)</em></a></p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903259" height="473" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-21.png?w=724" width="724" /></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If you need more examples, <a href="https://www.prints-online.com/rabbits-carrots-christmas-card-14240972.html">here’s a postcard from the 1890s</a>, <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/356424169025?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20231207125618%26meid%3D6e640f44679e4615a8b809fe108f8f51%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D205243485468%26itm%3D356424169025%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V2V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecallWithVMEV3CPCAutoWithCassiniEmbRecall&_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A3564241690256e640f44679e4615a8b809fe108f8f51%7Cenc%3AAQAKAAABcNnX%252FcPSJ4FQoNUs8iW9d3TTdveHEGYK%252F99oxoRSM0U4bA%252F0pel740HFSnLmNo8XaXFf3LY94VNsllcUHn%252FJtRSziVjKEEDlraork%252BGVpOZJJFdtIFmTnDC7UCpFP2E69q7yDRkCBMpHAWHs%252F32bJnpsae4oUfvCeeTTMMYRHTT8g%252FZTV6W6afE%252FPUcC2Ni3zv0HgdrWaBL3b4tlqk0nghbf2AijX7zJ7hXV0JSKqrMNEdioJdtZtBGgyDbBG5Gp4MmRCbkx3AcIWGFfOd6yTJvXxnkuMDLCwjh9i43YgVJa1h3DcOWM3c30lkYs3LhIZS42PcekWS2CVpmHmcVB%252B3Ev0prek93SjKxQEjUW6X5V3j4erdRS7jJ%252FZrCvSXVyiRWe76C01%252Bwxy2WOKKRpqdfALelS91jGnNFvC%252F9zI1kBKNCmMkl7w%252Fh%252BzN5rQMP5BjhT9V8LlEKQ5W4IwqZDfb0so2bVB0yLraqCQ4c4xn3o%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JT51Y6GH5XY7NKN7C5FMSBTQ">here’s one from the 1910s</a>, <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/256701483429?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20231207125618%26meid%3D6e640f44679e4615a8b809fe108f8f51%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D205243485468%26itm%3D256701483429%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V2V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecallWithVMEV3CPCAutoWithCassiniEmbRecall&_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A2567014834296e640f44679e4615a8b809fe108f8f51%7Cenc%3AAQAKAAABcNnX%252FcPSJ4FQoNUs8iW9d3TTdveHEGYK%252F99oxoRSM0U4bA%252F0pel740HFSnLmNo8XaXFf3LY94VNsllcUHn%252FJtRSziVjKEEDlraork%252BGVpOZJJFdtIFmTnDC7UCpFP2E69q7yDRkCBMpHAWHs%252F32bJnpsae4oUfvCeeTTMMYRHTT8g%252FZTV6W6afE%252FPUcC2Ni3zrPgFz7UaWM4XGLnInff8YNBc2wc6sj1ICw77F95oOhJRB3MXl2HakgE5flX4pjJAHbMuvvdu5PWID%252BKfyML9593H9nsFkMxBu5rt%252BPXDlgyKzXDUG87iuIQo9kZ8qFgH2uqEJ%252F%252BWuvrzm%252FydZPoTGHTw4oUxxrDrS%252Bl188wmDo%252FryhtSWh2mW2adeTauhv6FBWZc29gfXaLxie%252BOVhe1%252BoVHsdw0hyszH1vsmMglpO7%252FQoQoxuN7Dr5cJLmFsDHlglcAgS3u5soLh9Ez60RpIqrTAnG8q14EWcbQ8WNWRey%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JT51Y6GT6TF904K9AWERX486">here’s another from the 1910s</a>, <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/306131559527?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110018%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPLISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20210609144404%26meid%3D4d9e6ec51fa146a595566f9b0a09e40f%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D205243485468%26itm%3D306131559527%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DCompVIDesktopATF2V6ReplaceKnnV4WithVectorDbNsOptHotPlRecall&_trksid=p2332490.c101196.m2219&itmprp=cksum%3A3061315595274d9e6ec51fa146a595566f9b0a09e40f%7Cenc%3AAQAKAAABILgtLPsIDyOlK9%252Be8kjAsUURj4VBY1igy96vvNET9itpl3hF609JhQhCcnA33oSuVDFkWgW3PitgfhoQVULyYOVOrXcViUtPGUmLXxCxx4vTtVigVY4Y4CoV3ORHnlQF3KgMOYwTy344OGTWjMqIC1IAlciaOv52hoEvoejPmDC%252B4be5V7MuMfKe2VaVzVL%252FVfM5lBued5gdyezoo9BmyA6yLAxwUXFn3X6SQv%252B1XZ%252FrSGDfv0tLFkHfKZkYCq%252BKyO5%252BYg2tqzukdO%252F7WthBGVV%252BKaV4kDZUz7O9TIjkGnV9dUGzU%252FrXi9%252BkQPoXg5pYHsNuXiVX%252FHHWcPlsF3Bks6Glqzs3A9ojz3FusyF72ZyUN0LWIhmLJUvyIIzQ3eo2Uw%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JT51Y6GM68AWJMNSMM27ZKXP">here’s one from 1912</a>, <a href="https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=vintage+postcard+rabbit+carrot&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2332490.m570.l1313">here are many others</a>. (<em>Source: I know how to use internet search engines</em>.)</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">(<em>Update: Someone on social media pointed out that some of the “carrots” in these postcards are actually radishes, if you look at the leaves. This is a good catch and tracks with the confusion discussed below regarding Peter Rabbit.</em>)</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I also checked Newspapers.com, just in the off chance that rabbits-eating-carrots was, like, a narrow Easter postcard trend until Bugs made it more common in the broader realm. A search for the exact phrase “rabbit eating carrots,” between the years 1800 and 1940, got 214 matches; “rabbits ate the carrots” yielded another 150. (I could have kept toying with other word choices, but it felt like the existing data proved the point.)</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">If Bugs Bunny didn’t make us think rabbits love carrots, <em>who did? </em></h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The short answer here is that it’s impossible to know, because (as discussed above) it was clearly a well-known connection by the turn of the twentieth century. There wasn’t a single character or story or old-timey meme that established this idea, as far as I can tell.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But I do think there’s a strong candidate for someone who truly popularized the bunny-veggie association, and it’s not Bugs. It’s this guy: </p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903265" height="1000" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-24.png?w=851" style="width: 382px; height: auto;" width="851" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Looks like this is in the public domain in the USA.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That, of course, is Peter Rabbit, the beloved picture-book character created by Beatrix Potter. <em><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit/N-izAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">The Tale of Peter Rabbit</a></em> was first published in 1901 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit">(after an earlier life as a one-off created for a five-year-old)</a> and became a publishing sensation. Peter’s misadventures don’t feature any direct mentions of carrot-eating, but the book does include the image above, which is one of the most famous illustrations Beatrix Potter ever created. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to the text, those are actually radishes he’s eating—but they sure look like carrots, don’t they? I don’t have a source for this (sorry), but I strongly suspect that, given the existing cultural connections, many readers assumed those vegetables were carrots. <a href="https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5117670/">The poster for the big-budget Peter Rabbit movie</a>, for example, is a clear riff on that illustration, and it’s all about the carrots.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the USA, Peter Rabbit soon took on another life through the syndicated newspaper stories of a writer named Thornton W. Burgess, who apparently just took the character for himself. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton_W._Burgess">He mansplained:</a> “I like to think that Miss Potter gave Peter a name known the world over, while I with Mr. Cady’s [Burgess’s illustrator] help perhaps made him a character.”)</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Burgess version of Peter Rabbit was much the same in antics and demeanor, and had various carrot-related encounters, including one where a fox uses them to lure the bunny into a trap:</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img alt="" class="wp-image-139903262" height="205" src="https://snackstack.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-22.png?w=511" style="width: 568px; height: auto;" width="511" /></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the tales by both writers, Peter Rabbit is a lovable scamp constantly in search of a snack from the garden. He’s not looking for grass or leaves. That’s not a story. That’s not an interesting <em>character. </em>We think of rabbits as passive and docile, adorable fuzzballs without the wide-ranging personalities of cats or dogs or the cheekiness of squirrels or raccoons. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">To make a rabbit intriguing, to form it into a protagonist capable of sustaining a narrative, humans need to offer a bit of spin. What do we have to work with? That cuteness, sure, but also a reputation for nibbling on, and digging up, our gardens. They might not typically seek out carrots on their own, but perhaps, in that eternal human quest for a grand story to tell, people started to see the holes in their vegetable patches and ascribe desire to the rabbits: the carrots are a buried treasure that those naughty-but-loveable creatures are constantly looking for. To project a love of carrots onto rabbits is to create a connection to humans by way of a garden. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Again: speculation. But I think it helps offer some common ground between the postcards, Beatrix Potter, and Looney Toons: a love of carrots gives rabbits a character trait, and it makes them characters in <em>our </em>story, as humans. For whatever reason, it’s something humans seem to desire. We want rabbits to fit a particular role in our lives. Carrots help with that. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This, to me, is far more interesting than the possibility that “It Happened One Night” was singularly responsible for shifting how we think about this animal and this vegetable. (Check your sources, internet content creators!)</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Peter Rabbit hopped so Bugs Bunny could swagger—not just as a throwback to Clark Gable but as a nod to his fictitious ancestors who had been eating carrots generations earlier. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>Happy snacking!</em></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>Doug </em></p>
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