In the story, Brother Rabbit and His Famous Foot, Brer Wolf steals Brer Rabbit's lucky rabbit's foot. In the frame of the story, Uncle Remus has a rabbit's foot, and it falls out of his pocket: "It was the hind foot of a rabbit, and a very large one at that." Uncle Remus is concerned that it might fall in the fire: "Don't let it git in de embers; 'kaze ef dat ar rabbit foot git singe, I'm a goner, sho'!" Uncle Remus then explains that he uses it to ward off ghosts: "dat rabbit foot is fer ter keep off boogers. W'en I hatter run er'n's fer myse'f all times er night, en take nigh cuts thoo de woods, en 'cross by de buryin'-groun', hits monst'us handy fer ter have dat ar rabbit foot." He also explains that it's for good luck: "dish yer rabbit foot 'll gin you good luck."
According to Wikipedia, the rabbit's foot is considered a lucky charm in many different cultures. The article mentions hoodoo in particular, especially a rabbit's foot from a graveyard rabbit. That shows up in J.C. Harris too: A Plantation Witch.
It's possible that some of these beliefs resonate with witches who go abroad as rabbits, so taking the foot of the rabbit is a way to secure the witch's powers (compare a black-cat-bone used as an amulet).
This Scientific American blog brings in the idea of African fetishes: What Makes a Rabbit's Foot Lucky?
The owner of such a token manipulates existing ideology to empower himself. Ellis links the rabbit’s foot lore to African American magical traditions—where the rabbit is a familiar in Anglo traditions, the rabbit is a clever creature in the African tradition of B’rer Rabbit, who consistently employed wit, creativity, and intelligence to manage conflicts:Bill Ellis (2002). Why Is a Lucky Rabbit's Foot Lucky? Body Parts as Fetishes. Journal of Folklore Research, 39 (1), 51-84. Here it is online with OU Library proxy.
This showed up at the LuckyMojo.com site, ha ha.
Here's another rabbit foot memory from my childhood -- a 1950 roadside advertisement:
On curves ahead
Remember, sonny
That rabbit's foot
Didn't save
The bunny
Burma-Shave
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