{"id":67874,"date":"2025-08-14T01:52:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T01:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/67874\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T01:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T01:52:06","slug":"rabbits-with-tentacle-like-growths-seen-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/67874\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbits with tentacle-like growths seen in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">DENVER (<a href=\"https:\/\/kdvr.com\/news\/local\/rabbits-with-wart-like-tentacles-horns-seen-in-northern-colorado-is-it-dangerous\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:KDVR;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">KDVR<\/a>) \u2013 Some rabbits in Colorado are sporting unusual wart- and tentacle-like growths, but officials say it\u2019s not something to worry about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It\u2019s not entirely rare, either, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The black, twisted growths seen on Colorado rabbits come from the papillomavirus, and are spread by bites from insects (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1094919404000635?via%3Dihub\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:mostly ticks,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">mostly ticks,<\/a> according to researchers) that are more active in warmer months. The bites spread the viral disease and cause malignant tumors to grow in rabbits, <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC6501911\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:often on their heads;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">often on their heads<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/kdvr.com\/news\/local\/coyotes-are-attacking-arvada-residents-pets-heres-how-cpw-is-helping-neighbors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Coyotes are attacking Arvada residents\u2019 pets: Here\u2019s how CPW is helping neighbors;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\"> Coyotes are attacking Arvada residents\u2019 pets: Here\u2019s how CPW is helping neighbors <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">CPW says there\u2019s no threat of transmission to pets other than domesticated rabbits, but is still warning residents to be careful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThere\u2019s no overt concern needed for pet owners, we would just say to keep those wildlife principles in mind when you do have them out: Keep them on leash, keep them away from wild animals just in case, but it is not something necessarily we see transferred from rabbits to dogs,\u201d said CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Those who own domesticated rabbits are warned that housing them outside increases their chances of infection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIn domestic rabbits, the disease is more severe than in wild rabbits and should be treated by a veterinarian,\u201d CPW said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">CPW also said that the rabbits can fight off the virus on their own, and the agency only gets concerned when the growths cover their eyes or impact their ability to eat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER (KDVR) \u2013 Some rabbits in Colorado are sporting unusual wart- and tentacle-like growths, but officials say it\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,5731,42469,42930,42931,22910,66,323],"class_list":["post-67874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-parks-and-wildlife","tag-cpw","tag-domesticated-rabbits","tag-rabbits","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}