If you find yourself wandering through the Colorado wilderness and you spot a rabbit exhibiting characteristics not traditionally associated with rabbits — horns, specifically — take a deep breath. You haven’t accidentally stumbled into a horror movie;

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.

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,

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