Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "How the extinction of a species affected whiskey production" video.

  1. Ah, you're right, I had that backwards.
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  2. There's some evidence that these massive flocks of passenger pigeons didn't just provide food for humans and animals. One of the favorite foods of pigeon was white oak acorns. The massive overfeeding on these acorns are one of the reasons for the decline of white oak numbers in the 19th century. Another side effect was the decrease in the numbers of deer mice, whose favorite food was also the white oak acorn. With the numbers of passenger pigeons in rapid decline. the supply of acorns available increased. So did the number of deer mice, and deer mice are the main reservoir of Lyme Disease. A particular variety of tick feeds on both deer mice and deer, but it doesn't generally feed on humans. Another variety feeds on deer and humans, thereby transferring Lyme Disease from deer to humans when the human is bitten by the tick. Lyme disease was almost unknown as a medical condition before the turn of the century, and the disease was only poorly understood until 1981, when the bacteria that causes the disease was first isolated. The increasing numbers of baby boomers hiking and backpacking in the woods was responsible for the massive increases in reports of a disease first recognized as a collection of otherwise vague symptoms among a group of patients in the early 70's in Lyme, Connecticut. We now see that the decline of the passenger pigeon led to an increase of acorns that finally ended up with the outbreaks of Lyme Disease we see today. On the plus side, the white oak is making a comeback as more of their acorns sprout and grow.
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