Tag Archives: invasive species

Commander Ben Goes to Washington

Are you a budding invasive hunter who’s planning a trip to Washington DC this year? If so, I’ve got the list for you!

I had a great time last year bringing my Invasive Hunter Academy to Kids’ day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week at the US Botanic Gardens. While I was there, my family and I visited many of the museum in our nation’s capital, and I made notes on what I liked and what would be neat for invasive hunters in training.

Here are my top five museums for invasive species hunters and for everyone who loves adventure and nature too!

1. United States Botanic Gardens
   • Liked: Fantastic place with lots of wonderful plants! And so close to the United States Capitol! The special “Orchid Mystic: Nature’s Triumph” display they had was very cool and was related to the Japanese, a culture that I admire.
   • Invasive Hunters: Learn a lot about plants! See what potential invasive species look like because some plants native to one area are not native in another area.
2. International Spy Museum
   • Liked: You have to go on the Operation Spy action adventure, as well as see the James Bond exhibit. It’s also great learning about the carrier pigeons and Benjamin Franklin’s role as a spy. Cool gift shop! The deadbolt drop and survival tools are must haves.
   • Invasive Hunters: Teaches you the art of espionage so you can spy on invasives and hone your skills.
3. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
   • Liked: The water beetles in the bug zoo were cool. Great fossil, rock, and mineral collection. The Hope diamond was much smaller than I expected. They had a bigger diamond there that dwarfed it. Great rock gift shop.
   • Invasive Hunters: Learn about invasive pests, and learn about rocks and minerals that you may encounter while hunting for invasives.
4. United States Capitol
   • Liked: Loved meeting my US Congressman to talk about the problems with invasive species. Be sure to visit the House Gallery if they’re in session. The House chambers look smaller than on TV. The statues and tunnels were great too! Each state got to have two statues and I saw the two that were from Texas. A statue from Hawaii was great with the “big guy” in golden armor…King Kamehameha!
   • Invasive Hunters: Learn how laws are made that may help to keep invasive species from invading our ecosystems. Be sure to get the quill and ink from the gift shop to write “Down with Invasives!” in the old fashion style.
5. National Cryptologic Museum
   • Liked: Great information on how to decipher codes, and learned about the Hobo code from the depression era. Also learned about the German Enigma machine and how the Allies cracked the code in WWII. Nice gift shop, but the Spy museum was better. 😉
   • Invasive Hunters: Create codes for native plants that invasive species can’t read. 🙂

Let me know if you have any favorites too!

2013 National Invasives Species Week

National Invasives Species Week (NISAW) is back this year from March 3-8, 2013, in Washington, DC.

My thanks to Sheriff Al and the NISAW team for inviting me back this year. I’ve been preparing for high school (tests, homework, augh!), and won’t be able to make it back 😦 , but if you live near or are visiting Washington DC during this time, don’t miss going to NISAW Kids’ Day on March 3. 🙂 There will be lots of fun activities for the entire family to learn more about invasive species! Plus, you can visit all the great museums in our nations capital. Yea!

Your friend,
Ben