Here's Why Why Rabbits in Colorado Are Growing Strange Horn-Like Growths And Why You Shouldn't Panic

Rabbits are known to reproduce, well, like rabbits, but even this is an unprecedented level of horniness, even by their lofty standards.

There's been an increase in sightings of rabbits with strange, horn-like growths coming out of their heads.

It brings to mind the mythological jackalope, an animal I thought was real way longer than I'd really care to admit. I mean, if they were fake, how come I saw so many taxidermied ones in gift shops during a childhood trip out to Yellowstone?

But these are very real, and they're frankly a little disturbing.

Horn-like growths have been popping up on rabbits' heads, but fortunately, it's nothing new or worth panicking over. (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

This is the result of skin growths of viral infection caused by the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus," the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website says. "The growths have no significant effects on wild rabbits unless they interfere with eating/drinking."

Most of these recent sightings have occurred in Colorado, but this isn't a recent outbreak or a rare phenomenon, even though it appears to have come straight out of The Last of Us TV series.

It's somewhat common, and since it's believed that the virus cannot be transmitted to other animals — and that includes humans — there's really no need to panic.

So, put down that go bag and don't start cracking open some of those MREs you have sitting in the basement just in case.

It's all good… unless you're a rabbit.

But still, this is one of those things that I was happier not knowing about. Those horn-like growths just make my skin crawl when I see them. There's just something about the word "skin growths" that makes me start dry-heaving almost instantaneously.

Probably the fact that they're growths on one's skin.

But like I said, there's nothing to worry about until those horns start popping up on human noggins or start giving the rabbits super intelligence, in which case, I for one welcome our new Leporid overlords…