A rapidly spreading virus is causing cottontail rabbits to grow black, tentacle-like growths out of their heads, prompting warnings to steer clear of the mutated animals.

Wildlife officials in Colorado have confirmed a troubling rise in cases of shope papillomavirus, a rare disease causing wild rabbits to grow tentacle-like growths from their heads and mouths. While the condition is not new to science,

SEATTLE — The "Frankenstein bunnies" have been making waves across social media in the U.S. Recently, one rabbit potentially carrying the virus was spotted in a Seattle neighborhood.

Rabbits with black, tentacle-like growths sprouting from their faces have been spotted in Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said a viral infection called the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus caused the black growths on the rabbits.

Rabbits spotted with "tentacles" or horns growing out of their heads. But it's really happened in Colorado. "There are really rabbits with what look like tentacles growing out of them," USA Today reported.

The grotesque “Frankenstein”-esque rabbits — once just a Colorado curiosity — are now turning up in Minnesota and Nebraska, their furry faces sprouting grotesque horn- and tentacle-like growths straight out of a B-movie.

A group of rabbits in Colorado with grotesque, hornlike growths may seem straight out of a low-budget horror film, but scientists say there's no reason to be spooked — the furry creatures

Earlier this week, the internet collectively gasped and recoiled as photos went viral of rabbits in Fort Collins with features on their heads that resemble horns or tentacles. Join In The NoCo host Erin O'Toole in a q&a with Kara Van Hoose,