Researchers at Cornell University have released a study on the "Winter that Wasn't" and its effect on wildlife.
Dr. Paul Curtis, a professor of natural resources and a wildlife specialist at Cornell University, says this unusually warm weather may lead to activity from animals a few days to a few weeks earlier than normal.
And that could lead to an increase in the deer population throughout the state and with more deer comes an increase in deer ticks, and possibly a greater risk for lyme disease.
Curtis says cases of lyme disease in parts of the state have increased dramatically the past few years.
Curtis adds the warm winter may also lead to early breeding for mosquitoes, and if there's a wet spring with plenty of ponding of water, that population will go up, too.
