Residents of Fort Collins, Colorado, have been left unsettled after sightings of wild rabbits sporting strange horn-like and tentacle-like growths on their heads. At first glance, the creatures look like something straight out of a horror movie mutated animals with bony protrusions rising from their faces. Locals quickly dubbed them “Frankenstein bunnies” and “zombie rabbits,” fueling a wave of eerie social media posts.
But the truth behind this disturbing phenomenon is stranger and more tragic, than legend. Wildlife experts explain that the rabbits are infected with a rare virus known as the Shope papillomavirus. This disease causes abnormal keratin growths to form around a rabbit’s head, eyes, and mouth, creating the terrifying illusion of horns or writhing tentacles.
The virus itself doesn’t harm humans or pets, but for rabbits, it can be a slow struggle. Some manage to survive until the growths fall off naturally, while others face difficulty eating, seeing, or escaping predators. In domestic rabbits, the condition can even turn cancerous.
What makes this outbreak particularly unsettling is how closely it ties into old folklore. Stories of the jackalope, a mythical rabbit with antlers, have existed in American tall tales for over a century. Many now believe that early sightings of virus-stricken rabbits may have sparked the legend. In other words, what began as infection may have been misremembered as myth.
And with summer’s peak insect activity helping spread the virus through bites from mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas, experts warn that these bizarre sightings may become more common.
For now, Colorado’s “zombie rabbits” serve as a chilling reminder that sometimes nature itself is far stranger than fiction.