The (Stink) Bugs Are Back In Town

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- The big storms we had back in late summer and fall --- Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee -- literally drowned out a lot of the stink bug population.

The bad news is there are the survivors: they are already out and about because the winter has been so remarkably warm.

Nobody wants to see stink bugs back early less than Doug Inkle of Rockville or Polly Lowe of Urbana. Both have been plagued in seasons past with overwhelming numbers of stink bugs.

It was so bad in 2011, 9News Now's Bruce Leshan found a guy with a stink bug recipe. So bad that Topper Shutt got talked into actually eating the bug burrito. And now,  the bugs are out early, according to University of Maryland Entomologist Mike Raupp.

This is a disappointing development, after the good news that the bug population appeared to have been badly beaten back by, or flooded out by, the 16 inches of rain brought by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee last September.

Some scientists have speculated that may mean fewer bugs in 2012 perhaps, but others are speculating that the warm winter is giving them a head start toward and epic comeback.

And climate change is definitely a factor, according to scientists on all sides.