Fortunately for us, we had a nice warm winter this year.  For about 3 days it was chilly, but miraculouslyit was fairly mild the rest of the winter, just rainy of course.  As many know the problem with the pin beetle in all of our great forests is that our winters are not cold enough for long enough.  This same general principal applies to fleas as well.  Seeing as our winter was warmer then usual, it would of killed less fleas then usual.  As a matter of fact it killed a lot less fleas.  The number of fleas has increased a great amount and puts your pets at a much bigger risk of contracting them and bring them into your house.  It is strongly suggested to get your pet checked and protected as soon as possible, no matter how careful you are with them around other animals.  The number of fleas this year is so great they can even be living in the grass.  The risk is unavoidable – protect your pet.