Nature Challenge You Can Do with a Snap and an App

See some wildlife? Take a Selfie!

Today marks the start of a statewide nature challenge for everyone in Texas to participate in! All you need is a smartphone and the iNaturalist app!

I can't tell you the number of amazing snakes, birds, rabbits, badgers, mice, and frogs I see daily on the ranch. I have so many photos on my iPhone and I had no idea there was even such a thing as the iNaturalist app. I am betting you didn't either, but I'm also betting if you're in my neck of the woods, you see plenty of wildlife throughout our part of the state as well.

The Crossroads really has a plethora of diverse wildlife!

What's the iNaturalist app?

It's an opportunity for you to share your encounters with nature with other like-minded individuals adding important scientific information and conversation via snapping your pictures and sharing them on iNaturalist.

What iNaturalist offers about their app.

"Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.

What is the Global Biodiversity Information Facility?

GBIF is an international network and data infrastructure funded by the world's governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.

What's the challenge?

Now through May 3rd everyone with the app is welcome and encouraged to share their photos of wildlife in your backyard, at local parks, green spaces, nature preserves, or wildlife refuges.

The Texas city or county with the greatest number of research-grade identifications is declared the 2021 champ for the state!

Let's go Texas nature lovers!