INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The primary carriers of Lyme disease are ticks. Therefore, you need to think about whether you've been in an area where you could pick up ticks. Grassy and wooded areas are typical places ticks hide out, but they can even be in your backyard. Pets can also bring them in from outside. It's also important to know if you're in a high-incidence state. That means your state has had 10 confirmed cases per 100,000 people in the last 3 years. You can find this information at https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html. It's important to know if you've been bitten by a tick, though it may fall off before you become aware. Still, if you found a tick on you and you are having other symptoms, you should visit with your doctor. Look for ticks all over your whole body any time you've been outdoors, particularly if you've been in a wooded area. They like to get in crevices, so look in your armpits and behind your knees, as well as at your waist, between your legs, and around your scalp. Ticks are little pear-shaped bugs with eight legs. They'll attach themselves to your skin. It is possible to test a tick for Lyme disease. If you find one that's buried in your skin, use fine-tipped tweezers to pull it out. Grasp it as close to the skin as you can and pull it straight out. Place it in a plastic bag with a moist cotton bowl or paper towel. You can also submerge it in alcohol in a small vial. Send it to a testing center to be evaluated.

SUMMARY: Consider if you've been in a tick-prone area. Be aware of tick bites. Catch and test the tick.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Purchase several ripe apples, then eat them or cut them until you reach their cores. Carefully remove the seeds from around the cores of the apples, being sure to pick out every seed before disposing of the cores. Be aware that most apple trees grown by farmers and gardeners come from grafted trees, and are not planted directly from the seed. Planting trees from apple seeds produced highly variable fruit, since apple trees are not guaranteed to grow according to their type or variety. The more seeds you plant, the more likely it will be that one of the trees will produce edible apples, as opposed to less edible varieties like crab apples. There is about a one in ten success rates of seeds growing into apple trees that produce fruit good enough to eat. Try to start the process of preparing the seeds during the fall, so that by the beginning of spring, the seeds are ready for planting. After you extract the seeds from the apple or apples, add the seeds to a bowl of water. If they float, throw them away, because they are less likely to grow. Lay the other seeds out on a paper towel and allow them to dry for three to four weeks. Flip the seeds over every two days so that they dry evenly on both sides. After a couple days of drying, purchase some peat moss. Pour a few tablespoons of the peat moss on the paper towel, then sprinkle on a few drops of water. Use your hands to mix up the peat moss and seeds. After you mix up the seeds and peat moss, pour the mixture into a ziplock bag. Write the date on the bag with a marker, then place the bag in the refrigerator for three months. The process of storing the seeds in moist, cold conditions is called stratification. Stratification softens the hard outer coat of the seed and encourages the embryo inside the seed to start germinating. After three months, remove them from the refrigerator, and allow them to warm up so that you can plant them.
Summary: Remove apple seeds from the cores of several apples. Dry the seeds on a paper towel. Mix the seeds with peat moss. Put the seeds and peat moss in a bag and refrigerate.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before a storm, ants will build up their mounds and create steep sides. If you see raised ant beds, especially if they were lower before, then there may be a storm coming. When the air pressure falls before a storm, birds feel discomfort in their ears. This causes them to fly lower toward the ground or to perch on lower tree branches or power lines. You may also observe the birds eating ground insects. This behavior suggests that a storm is coming. If the birds are flying high in the sky, then there will likely be fair weather. If you're near the sea, look for seagulls perched on the beach, which could indicate that a storm is coming. Watch for large groups of roosting birds. Birds also become quiet before a storm. Singing and chirping birds could indicate good weather. Birds can sense air pressure and will time their migrations to good weather. If you see flocks of birds migrating in the sky, then the weather will likely be good that day. If a storm is going to be short, birds will usually wait for the rain to end before looking for food. If you see birds eating during a storm, then it will likely last for a long time. Birds can sense the pressure patterns, allowing them to predict the weather. Bees and butterflies return to their homes before a storm for safety. In the case of bees, they also work to preserve the hive. If you don't see any bees and butterflies when you would expect to - such as in a field of flowers - then there may be a storm coming. Cows usually gather together and lie down in their pasture before a rainstorm. This is likely because it cools down before a storm, and cows like to be close to the ground when the weather cools. Cows lying on the ground is an indication that it may rain. This only applies to cows, not other livestock. Snakes will leave their nests before bad weather, even if it's in the middle of wintertime. Seeing snakes in unexpected places or at a time when the snake would normally be in its nest can be a sign of bad weather. Snakes can even predict earthquakes. If you see a snake out of its nest behaving erratically, there could be an earthquake coming. Snakes usually come out of their nests in sunny weather to warm themselves. They don't like the cold because they are cold-blooded. A snake out of its nest when it's not a warm, sunny day is an indication that bad weather is coming. Tortoises will seek higher ground before a storm, so look for movement to higher locations. You may see them in the road one to two days before a rain.

SUMMARY:
Look for high ant mounds. Watch for low-flying or roosting birds. Look for bird migrations. Notice if birds eat during a storm. Search for bees and butterflies. Check cow pastures to see if they are lying down together. Look for snakes. Watch tortoises if they are nearby.