People in northern Colorado have been reporting sightings this month of wild rabbits with black horns and tentacles on their faces. The rabbits appeared to have “black quills or black toothpicks” and “a scabbiesh-looking growth over their face,

W ildlife officials in Colorado are fielding calls about unusual sightings of cottontail rabbits with horn-like growths protruding from their faces. This condition, caused by a virus, is startling to see but not dangerous to people or pets.

The cottontail rabbit papillomavirus, which alarmed some Colorado residents, cannot spread to other species and often goes away on its own, according to experts.