MUTANT deer are the latest animals to be spotted roaming around with gross pus-filled boils.
They join a plague of “zombie squirrels” and rabbits with tentacles freaking people out in the US this summer.
Deer have been spotted with clusters of warts sprouting from their skin[/caption]
The boils can be bigger than the size of a golf ball[/caption]
Americans have spotted them roaming around across the country[/caption]
Pictures of the deer with strange clusters of blisters on their flesh have been uploaded to social media from across the US.
The bubbles have been sprouting all over the animals’ bodies – pulling them out of shape from their legs to their faces.
In the past two months, wildlife watchers have documented unsettling cases in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Officials were quick to identify the condition as deer cutaneous fibroma – better known as “deer warts”.
The condition is caused by a virus that spreads between the deer – and experts have warned of an outbreak this summer.
It is often spread by disease-carrying insects, like mosquitos and tics.
They pass on the virus by transferring the blood of infected animals into healthy ones.
The disease-carrying insects breed in warm weather, which is why there are more wart-ridden deer in summer.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said: “Papillomas are most frequently seen during the late summer and into the fall, probably due to increased biting insect activity during this time of year.”
Deer are not the only mutated animals that have been startling Americans.
A terrifying plague of “zombie” squirrels has also gripped backyards around the country.
Squirrels have been spotted sporting the same grim warts as the deer by people across the States.
Pictures show some individuals completely coated in unsightly growths around their heads and limbs.
One Reddit user posted: “At first I thought it was eating something from my front beds, but then I realized it was on its face.”
Squirrels have also been seen covered with ghastly, pus-filled tumours[/caption]
Pictures show them absolutely coated in these unsightly growths around their heads and limbs[/caption]
Scientists say the are furry creatures are suffering from squirrel fibromatosis – a skin condition that’s caused by leporipoxvirus.
It can spread through direct contact between healthy squirrels and the lesions or saliva on those that are infected.
The virus affecting the deer is from the same broad family as one that can infect humans – known as papillomaviruses.
People can suffer from similar growths on their skin if infected by the human version of the disease.
But there isn’t any danger of a person catching the virus from a deer, as it is species-specific.
Rabbits with tentacles sprouting out of their heads have also gone viral online[/caption]
The bunnies are suffering from Shope Papilloma Virus[/caption]
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