Rabbits With Horrifying Tentacles Growing Out of Their Faces Spotted in Colorado

No, this is not AI.

Hell Bunnies Rise

Is it real, or is it the nightmare-inducing hallucination of a demented AI?

Terrifying bunnies with spiny black tentacles on their faces have been spotted in Colorado. And, yes, they are real.

As local news station 9News reports, rabbits bearing bizarre, spike-like growths on their faces have been repeatedly observed in Fort Collins in recent months.

"It looks like it was black quills or black toothpicks sticking out all around his or her mouth," area resident Susan Mansfield told 9News of the hellish-looking wildlife. "I thought he would die off during the winter, but he didn't. He came back a second year, and it grew."

In response to sightings, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed that the cottontail rabbits in the region are suffering from the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus, or CTRV, a viral infection that has the unfortunate side effect of causing sharp black tentacles to sprout from the animals' heads and faces.

The CPW further noted that the virus is commonly spread to rabbits by ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects, and isn't a risk to public health or pets outside of domestic rabbits (which should be treated by a vet if they happen to become infected).

In short, the bunnies aren't dangerous, despite their extremely hardcore look.

"There's no overt concern needed for pet owners," CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose told Colorado news station KDVR. "We would just say to keep those wildlife principles in mind when you do have them out: keep them on leash, keep them away from wild animals just in case, but it is not something necessarily we see transferred from rabbits to dogs."

Going Viral

Though it looks borderline demonic, CTRV isn't usually fatal. The impacted cottontails will more than likely recover and will lose the growths when they do. As such, wildlife experts don't recommend putting infected rabbits down.

Though the tentacles — which are associated with "jackalope" lore — have earned the infected critters the unfortunate nickname of "Frankenstein" rabbits in the past, these little guys are not tiny, fuzzy, demons from hell.

They're just having a rough go with a studied virus, pose no threat to most pets, and one day soon will drop the tentacles and be adorable once again. Now, back to focusing on the real demons...

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