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Jackalopes are Real

gomidoggomidog
edited June 2008 in Everything Else
I am not making this up. What I thought was folk-myth actually has some basis in reality, or more specifically the Shope papillomavirus. A virus similar to HPV which causes cancerous, hornlike tumors around the head and mouth served as the model for research into HPV, the virus that leads to cervial cancer, among other things. Poor, poor bunnies. Here are pictures if you don't believe me. Not for the weak of stomach. (but I need to be informed of bunny health risks, so okay.) This is assumed to be the source of the Jackalope myth. Nature is bizarre.
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Comments

  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    I think I am going to cry! I hope that never happens to my bunny!
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited June 2008
    I thought jackalopes were meant to be bigger.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • ErwinErwin
    I feel sorry for them :(
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited June 2008
    I hope that never happens to my bunny!
    Don't worry! Domestic rabbits have only ever gotten it when it was given to them by scientists. It's thought that the carrier is insect based, like ticks or fleas. Kinda like how you don't really have to worry about your rat having bubonic plague. It scared me a lot too though. Poor rabbits!
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • KieyKiey
    Looking at that makes me feel a little ill.
  • VigaViga
    edited June 2008
    I don't feel ill at all. I'm just intrigued. Maybe it's because I stupidly thought jackalopes were once real and I expected them to look this way.

    Now that I know it's a virus I feel sad for the bunnies.
    Post edited by Viga on
  • AndrewAndrew
    Ummm...yeah...
  • ......
    Ummm...yeah...
    OMG! It's the same virus? When I looked at the pictures Emily linked (btw, what's so sickening about them?) I thought that the things looked like the branches on that guy.
  • LyddiLyddi
    That tree guy looks like those barnacle people from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. I want to scrape those things off of their faces with one of those paint spackler tools so bad. x__x
  • VigaViga
    Whoa. Kinda scary. Reminds me of an ent mixed with human.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    Poor bunnies and people, I hope it doesn't hurt, harm, or inhibit them, but I think it is likely that it does.... ;_;
  • whateverwhatever
    Ummm...yeah...
    Looks like the guy behind the diner in Mulholland Drive.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    Can the illness be treated in humans or bunnies?
  • ladyobsoleteladyobsolete
    It seems like that is what the doctor is proposing to do in the movie Andrew linked to.
  • SchnevetsSchnevets
    Am I the only person looking at this positively? They look like adorable, real-life zerglings!
  • ......
    Am I the only person looking at this positively? They look like adorable, real-life zerglings!
    I wouldn't call that thinking positively. Though I must admit I laughed a bit when one of the pictures looked like a bunny Cthulhu. But it's not laughing matter for they might be incapable of eating if it's too bad.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    Yes, and worse still, we might be unable to eat them!
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited June 2008
    Yes, and worse still, we might be unable to eat them!
    Get the hell off my corner of the internets! Bunnies are not for eating in my domain! Geeknights does not endorse the eating of bunnies, especially mine.

    ...Emily's Rabbit Mania has become something of a running gag among the crew.
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • Your MomYour Mom
    I hope that never happens to my bunny!
    Don't worry! Domestic rabbits have only ever gotten it when it was given to them by scientists. It's thought that the carrier is insect based, like ticks or fleas. Kinda like how you don't really have to worry about your rat having bubonic plague. It scared me a lot too though. Poor rabbits!
    Actually, rats can be exposed to the bubonic (or black) plague. However, the exposure is typically in the wild or highly unsanitary spaces, if the animal is exposed to fleas or other rodents that carry Yersinia pestis. I recall the occasional "Woman gets bubonic plague" news article that came from squirrels in the wild, particularly in the Southwest corner of the US.
  • WyattWyatt
    I head that bubonic plague is endemic in parts of the Mexican rat population. I could imagine a squirrel getting infected from a rodent parasite and infecting a person. Most people know to stay the hell away from rats, but some people think cute somehow means less dangerous.

    I don't know if it's the same condition as the rabbits, but when I worked with the DEC we had a doe (female whitetail deer) come in with an extreme growth on the side of her head. The growth was all cartilage and bone. Guess which lucky tech got to do the skull prep for this one?? It was seriously about the same size as her head.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited June 2008
    You hear that people! More cute = More deadly!!
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • Your MomYour Mom
    You hear that people! MORE CUTE = MORE DEADLY!!
    Well, if the rodents were not bad enough, dogs and cats were also primary vectors of the plague when it was wiping out large portions of Europe and then later in Asia. And dogs and cats are waaay more cute to me.
  • LyddiLyddi
    But rats aren't cute... mice are, though. Hamsters are even better.
  • gomidoggomidog
    typically in the wild or highly unsanitary spaces, if the animal is exposed to fleas or other rodents that carry Yersinia pestis.
    Therefore, pet rats do not often carry the disease. That's what I'm sayin'. Pet Rats and Pet Bunnies, as long as they don't have fleas, won't get these illnesses.
    But rats aren't cute... mice are, though. Hamsters are even better.
    I beg to differ. I find rats hilarious and cute as all get out. Mine would ride on your shoulder and kiss you ear, plus they could do all sorts of fun tricks. Rats are scarily smart, mice, not so much. Hamsters? fuhgedaboudit. Not that they aren't cute, but rats are just so much more playful, affectionate, and interesting.
  • ZeehatZeehat
    Not that they aren't cute, but rats are just so much more playful, affectionate, and interesting.
    Ergo "Lab Rats".
  • gomidoggomidog
    To be fair, there are lab mice, too. And rabbits. And beagles. And baboons.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    image
    Rats are awesome.
  • ZeehatZeehat
    I might someday give a pet rat a chance. The only time I've held a rat, (household pet rat) it bit me. They bite like all fuck.
  • SailSail
    My friend used to have two pet rats and they were super cute and fun to play with.
  • gomidoggomidog
    They bite like all fuck.
    When they do, they DO. However of all the rats we've ever had, the only one you ever had to be careful of was Stinky Natasha. She was a high strung rat, rough and more "wild" than any of the others. Alice was my favorite, and she was the sweetest thing. You could roll her up into a little ball or do just about anything with her and she didn't care, she would just lick your hand. She was very patient and sweet. My mom used to let her ride on her shoulder when she was hanging up the washing and doing chores around the house. It was like Teto from Nausicaa.
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