Strange Weather

Oklahoma weather is strange and those of us who live here know that. But, it's the middle of winter and yesterday the temperature climbed to 77 degrees F! It caused severe thunderstorms and this morning there was a tornado warning in Wagoner County! Today it's supposed to be up in the mid 60's.

Strange.

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Critters braving the cold

Yesterday it was up in the low 70's but by last night it was down in the teens and sleeting. This morning it was around 15 with a wind chill factor of 1 (which means with the wind it felt like it was 1 degree F).
It still amazes me how some critters don't take shelter and stay right out in the weather and just take it. As mentioned in the other post the Common House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum) is one that braves the weather. I don't see how it keeps from freezing to death.
Below is a picture of one :

Cold And Critters

Well, I guess the cold weather is finally hear again. It's been down in the low to mid thirties lately. There hasn't been too many critters out and about. I can still find various spiders here and there....mostly in or behind something. But, Common House Spiders, and a couple of others, don't seem to seek protection. They just hang right out in the open where the wind and everything can get to them. You would think they would try to find some type of shelter, but they don't.

I've also found several congregations of Lady Beetles. They do like to hide out of the wind and weather when it gets cold. I suppose they gather together for warmth or maybe protection. The biggest group I've seen so far this year is about 50 or 60 individuals in my storage shed.