Bizarre ‘Frankenstein rabbits’ with grotesque, horn-like growths are unsettling residents across the US. These aren’t monsters, but eastern cottontails infected with the Shope papilloma virus, a disease dating back to the 1930s. Spread by insects during warmer months, the virus causes warty tumors that harden, resembling antlers or tentacles. While visually alarming, the virus poses no threat to humans or pets, though it can be fatal to the rabbits themselves.
