Experts Are Warning People In Colorado To Stay Away From Mutant Rabbits With Horns And Tenticles Growing Out Of Them

A number of wild rabbits have been spotted hopping around with nightmarish facial growths across Fort Collins, Colorado.

Photographs of these tainted mammals taken by locals are not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure, as the bunnies appear to be cursed with dark, stubby tentacles protruding out of their skin.

But this isn't some Stranger Things-esque phenomenon.

It's the cottontail papilloma virus (CRPV) at work - giving rise to the 'jackalope' myth (rabbit with antlers) in modern times - which causes benign, Lovecraftian tumours to materialise on the head of the animals.

Following the most recent sightings, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has made its expert opinion on the matter known.

According to CPW, per Eyewitness News 3, anybody who encounters the infected rabbits must avoid all contact and stay away from them, even though it doesn't consider CPRV to be contagious across species.

Researchers suggest that the 'Frankenstein' variations could spread throughout the Midwest, carried by mosquitoes and ticks which bite the infected ones and transport their hideous conditions as opposed to direct contact between rabbits.

As for how CRPV affects the host, it all begins with red, raised spots on the skin that eventually mutate into warty masses.

The next phase of infection is the emergence of black tendrils covering the mouth, cheek and eye areas, although some of the initial warts can in fact transform into life-threatening skin cancer.