FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KUSA/CNN/CNN Newsource/WKRC) — Rabbits with tentacle-like growth around their heads were spotted in a neighborhood.
Residents in Fort Collins, Colorado recently noticed an unusual sight in their neighborhoods: rabbits with peculiar growths on their faces. Susan Mansfield, a resident in the area, described the appearance as “black quills or black toothpicks sticking out all around” the rabbits’ mouths, when speaking to reporters with KUSA.
“I thought he would die off during the winter but he didn’t, he came back a second year,” Mansfield said when speaking to KUSA.
The phenomenon has sparked curiosity and concern among locals, with some wondering if the rabbits are suffering from a contagious disease. However, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed that the condition is caused by a virus that is not contagious to other animals.
According to the University of Missouri, the condition, called rabbit (Shope) papillomavirus, is a DNA virus “seen most frequently in cottontail rabbits of the Midwest with outbreaks in domestic rabbits.”
Officials advised residents to leave the rabbits alone, as they would with any wildlife.
The virus, which resembles warts or benign cancerous cells, has no cure, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Despite the alarming appearance, the agency assures that the rabbits are not a threat to other animals or humans.
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