Texan by Nature

🤔What if the solution to conserving Texas’ water was a matchmaking service for conservation projects + funders? 💘 Sometimes the perfect match needs a little help for the stars to align– that’s where we come in!🪄 With #TxWAC (Texas Water Action Collaborative). We bring together business and funders with conservation projects to improve Texas water quality, quantity, and resilience! So far, we’ve activated over $4.7M in new investments 💸💧 Want to dive into the water action? Get more info and check out our latest matches here: https://lnkd.in/gyPuXrvw #HappyWaterWednesday 

🐍 "There's a snake in YOUR boot!" We're Texans. Of course we brag about everything being BIGGER & BETTER - including our snake population (over 100 different species & subspecies to be exact)! Check out these 4 ways snakes help our ecosystem: 🌾 Rodent control: Texas Rat Snakes feast on rodents, keeping their numbers in check and protecting our farms from furry invaders. 🐛Insect control: The Texas Garter Snake is your new best friend. Their diet includes garden pests like grasshoppers and slugs making them your secret weapon to growing prize-winning veg! 🌻 Food web: The Western Diamondback Rattlesnake's presence supports predator species like hawks and eagles. *cue the circle of life*🎶 🌳 Soil health: Burrowing snakes, like the Texas Blind Snake, aerate the soil and promote nutrient cycling - the natural recycling system of mineral nutrients. Let's give our slithery friends the respect they deserve! What’s your favorite (or least favorite) Texas snake?

🤔What do mountain lions, cougars, pumas, painters, catamounts & panthers have in common? They're ALL the same ELUSIVE animal! Mountain Lions have over 100 different names from Canada to the tip of South America. In Texas, cougars are found in the Trans-Pecos, south Texas brushlands, and parts of the Hill Country. If pumas make you jumpy, it’s because they can leap up to 15 feet high and 40 feet in distance! Olympic gold in the high jump, anyone?🥇 Catamounts need their space, often roaming large territories to hunt. They’re the ultimate introverts, preferring solo adventures, staying out of sight. 🦁 Unlike some big cats, mountain lions cannot roar. They communicate with whistles, screams, and purrs. Learn more about our #ConservationPartner, Texas Native Cats, a volunteer-run organization getting Texans acquainted with our majestic native cats here -> https://lnkd.in/gxG2fT4H

🗣️Stop talking trash about Texas bugs!🗣️ Walking sticks are GRACEFUL Tiger beetles are FASHIONABLE Bumblebees are CUDDLY Mosquitoes Roly polys are FLEXIBLE We know it FEELS as if Texas would be an even better place without MOSQUITOES but the truth is these flying vampires do more than annoy us at cookouts. 🦟Mosquitoes are important food sources for turtles, dragonflies, damselflies, bats, and birds. 😱One dragonfly can eat up to 100 mosquitoes a day. 🐢Baby turtles can eat over 500 mosquito larvae a day. 🦇A single bat can eat up to 1200 mosquitoes in one hour. It’s Be Nice to Bugs Day so if we have to say something nice to mosquitoes it’s: thanks for feeding much cuter animals 🙄

⚠️Trade offer: you invest $1 in conservation 🌱Nature pays you $4 back In 2019, Texas non-profits spent $639M in conservation investments yielding $2.8B in Return on Conservation™ value, delivering at least a 4:1 and up to 40:1 return per dollar invested! ROC™ value is the total return realized by investing in conservation, encompassing all variables– financial, human, and natural resources. We’ve known it all along: CONSERVATION IS GOOD BUSINESS🌱💸 This Wednesday, July 17 we’re hosting a free and open webinar to explore the details of the ROC™ report and discuss how Texas can use this data moving forward! We hope you can join us, tap the link to register: https://lnkd.in/gQhXzq8W

😜What TxN merch are you leaving with? May we suggest: 💧A sticker - to hold your emotional support water bottle together 🧢A cap - to beat the Texas heat 🏕️A mug - to keep your coffee from spilling when you pour 🙌A t-shirt - to avoid sunburn on your back While these are perfectly sensible reasons, how about the most IMPORTANT of them all? EVERY purchase helps us advance over 160+ #ConservationPartners across Texas with resources and opportunities to accelerate their impact (at no cost to them!) Check out our store here: https://lnkd.in/e4ECq6e

🥤It’s #NationalSlurpeeDay and IMAGINE if your taste buds were on your FEET?🦶STAY WITH US. 🤯Butterflies drink through a “proboscis” which looks like a long straw on their face, BUT most of their taste receptors are on their feet and their antenna🦋 In fact… if a butterfly has ever landed on you while you were out and about– it likely detected the salt in your sweat which it cannot get from other food sources. If 7-Eleven made a signature Texas slurpee flavor– what would it be? 🦋 🥤(Bluebonnet does have a nice ring to it)

Have you heard of a Texan Shower? 🚿 A Texan shower consists of: ⏰In and out in 4 minutes 🎤Your best karaoke song 🚫No dancing 💰Extra money in your pocket at the end of the month Texan showers help you save ~3,000 gallons of water each year– per Texan. These millennial classics can help you keep track of your shower time and conserve water this week! BTW, with #TxWAC (Texas Water Action Collaborative) we’re matching funders to projects that improve Texas water quality, quantity, and resilience! So far, we’ve activated over $4.7M in new investments 💸💧 Join the water action at our upcoming meeting on July 16!  Register here: https://lnkd.in/gpaTfb-j #HappyWaterWednesday

🥾 Watch your feet! Tomorrow is “Don’t Step on a Bee Day!” 🐝 Before you shush that bee away, remember it’s working to make your life better and say thank you instead?🙏 “How is this fuzzy bee working to make my life better?” you ask? 🪑Sit down and take notes because bees are good for: 🌼 YOUR RELATIONSHIP– the beautiful flowers you bought or received from your loved one that made you feel special were brought to life thanks to a pollinator like a bee. 🥕YOUR BREAKFAST– ⅓ of the food you eat was made possible thanks to a pollinator. While they’re at it, they help farmers produce larger and higher quality crop yields, saving them time, money, and water. 💸YOUR WALLET– a healthy pollinator population contributes to a healthy economy. The economic value of their pollination services is estimated to be in the billions of dollars! All thank you comments below will be relayed to a local queen bee⬇️💌

We know YOU don’t need an excuse to go outside, but if you have a friend that needs convincing… going outdoors to feel good is actually very scientific🤓 🧠Interacting with nature can BOOST your executive functioning, helping you to focus your attention, inhibit unwanted behaviors and actions to stay on task! 🌳Spending time in nature can increase the body’s CALMING, parasympathetic “rest and digest” response, which regulates how you react and recover from stress! 👟 Outdoor exercise produces a more positive MOOD, decreased anger, and improved self-esteem! With The Nature and Health Alliance, scientists and researchers across the country are coming together to understand, foster evidence for, and communicate about the connection between nature and health! Loving the outdoors is 100% Texan😎– but why we love it is starting to make a lot of sense through their research Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eJj8Mggc