America's Sweetheart has fangs. And she's using them to tell a certain publication to take a bite out of her bitter backside.

Katie Couric recently admitted that her new gig as anchor of the CBS Evening News has been "a little harder than I thought it would be."

"Some people out there are rooting for me to fail," Couric, 49, tells Esquire in its January issue. "You have to be unwavering in your convictions that you're doing something good, because there are a lot of circling vultures that will eat you alive."

After debuting - around the same time as Rosie O'Donnell on The View - to strong ratings, Couric has seen her show's popularity sink.

And she cites Esquire itself for criticizing her performance.

"You guys even take a shot at me," she tells the magazine. "You have something in the November issue, something about how since I've become an anchor, you don't know me anymore. You don't know me anymore? Bite me."

Whoa. Those are words you expect to hear from Heather Mills, not Katie Couric.

There are perks to the new gig, however. "I sleep a little later, but I'm busier than ever," Couric says. "I now get to make pancakes or scrambled eggs for my daughters (Ellie, 15, and Carrie, 10) in the morning, though some days I can't get it together and we have cold cereal."

We like Katie. So hopefully the critics aren't getting to her. Guess we'll know for sure if or when she ever molests a dog.