Grey squirrels can suffer from a condition called squirrel fibromatosis. Photo: Getty
Just days after a so-called “Frankenstein bunny” was seen in northern Colorado, reports surfaced of another eerie creature in North America: a “zombie squirrel”.
Grey squirrels covered in bulging, hairless tumours have been sighted across states such as Maine and parts of Canada in recent months, according to a Daily Mail analysis of social media posts.
While users have commented on the rodents’ “zombie”-like appearance, wildlife experts have said the wart-like lesions appear to be consistent with a condition called squirrel fibromatosis.
The virus belongs to the Leporipoxvirus genus within the Poxviridae family, the same group that includes the myxoma virus, which causes myxomatosis in rabbits.
It often gets confused with squirrelpox, which is caused by another virus carried harmlessly by grey squirrels but which can fatally infect red squirrels.
According to the Mail, experts have not yet confirmed whether the new sightings are cases of fibromatosis or squirrelpox, though the latter is considered to be less likely to spread in the US. While squirrel fibromatosis might look terrifying, it’s a common, often non-lethal skin disease.
The virus spreads through direct contact between healthy squirrels and the lesions or saliva of infected squirrels – often at feeding tables – and biting insects such as mosquitoes and fleas.
It can appear anywhere on the animal’s body, but is most common on the face and limbs. The growths usually regress on their own in several weeks or months.
Shevenell Webb, of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, told Bangor Daily News that residents who come across a “zombie squirrel” have little to fear as neither squirrel fibromatosis nor squirrelpox is believed to be transmissible to humans, domestic pets or birds.
It comes after reports of rabbits in Fort Collins, Colorado, alarming residents with black-coloured growths resembling horns protruding from their heads. Photos of rabbits with antler-like nodules have gone viral, drawing comparisons to “zombies”, “aliens” and “Frankenstein bunnies”.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have identified the cause as shope papillomavirus, a rabbit-only virus with no cure that produces wart-like tumours, particularly around the face and head. (© The Independent)