I see you didn't get any smarter while you were gone.
OF MICE AND MEN ... AND ACORNS
For more than 20 years, Rick Ostfeld has been studying small mammals, ticks and tree seeds, trying to untangle some of the complex interrelationships that give rise to Lyme disease. Sure enough, he's found that acorns provide a wonderful winter food supply for white-footed mice, which in turn are a favorite meal of blood-thirsty black-legged ticks.
"Acorn abundance gives rodents a jumpstart on breeding," says Ostfeld, an ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y. "By the next summer, mice numbers are through the roof."
Scientists are unsure what causes spikes in acorn production, although studies suggest that plants produce more seeds with warmer temperatures and higher levels of carbon dioxide. "Long term, we can probably expect to see more tree seed production, including acorns," says Ostfeld. "That would influence how frequently we get these terribly risky years."
The unprecedented acorn crop across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic spurred a mouse boom in 2010, and subsequent low acorn year in 2011, which Ostfeld anticipates will make for a "perfect storm" in 2012. Over the next couple months, as baby ticks wake up and look for a blood meal, there will be few mice to feast on. The next-best thing: humans.
This year's mild winter ('12) may make matters even worse. Ostfeld says that it wouldn't surprise him if Lyme-carrying ticks come out as early as this month.
Message 29314939
As for not getting warmer, you must have fallen asleep,B4 you got this far in my post...
the Northeast has been warming at a rate of nearly .5 degrees F per decade, with winter temperatures rising faster, at a rate of 1.3 degrees F per decade from 1970 to 2000, all changes consistent with those expected to be caused by global warming. 2010 was the warmest year on record.
neaq.org 
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