The Hunt for Invasive Species Slogans 6th Edition - Movie Invaders and Moving Invaders

We are continuing our series of posts to highlight some of the more memorable and fun slogans on invasive species that you can find on publications, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. This series on invasive species slogans includes occasional posts covering different aspects of the topic. So far, we've covered the following categories: Play-off, Alliteration, Rhyming, Mascots, and Illustrations. For this post, we are going with Movie Invaders and Moving Invaders.
If you know of some invasive species-related items that you think would be good additions to this series,  please send them to rivertoriver@gmail.com.

Movie Invaders

So I need to start off by giving credit where credit is due, the idea behind this topic came from my good friend Steve Shults.  He even came up with an impressive list of actual moveis that deal with the subject of invasive species.  I'll likely use that list sometime in the near future to come up with a post of real invasive species movies.  For now, in this first section we are focusing on educational posters, drawings, etc. that highlight invaders as part of fictional movie posters.  This is a match made in heaven.  Movie posters are sensational pieces of advertising.  Meant to grab your attention and make you NEED to see that movie, these posters are often over the top, splashy, and packed with action and cool word art!  Similarly, invasive species educational efforts often use sensationalism to make you pay attention to that species and feel you NEED to kill that invader!  So naturally, this theme is just right for adding to our slogan series.

"Invader from the Black Lagoon"
h/t Michael Keys

If any place deserves this cool of an invasive poster, it is St. Mark's NWR!

This is the perfect poster to start off this section!  From the Invasive Species Management Program at St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge, it has got it all:  based upon a movie filmed in Florida, part of the creature is made from the leaves of an invader, and the poster itself looks remarkedly like the original 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' movie poster.  Best of all, if you look closely you can see that St. Mark's NWR refuge is marked on the shape of Florida, just underneath the deadly claws of the invader that is putting the state into a death grip!  St. Marks is perhaps one of my favorite places to bird watch.  I've lost track of how many lifers I've found there over the years. 

"Invasion of the Flying Fish"

Why is she so scared if the fish is jumping away from her?

Here is another near perfect invader movie poster.  The frightened black and white lady holding her hands up in mid-scream, the dripping font leaning as if it is coming towards you, and the oversaturated colors give the whole thing a 1940's technicolor feel to it.  This poster comes to us from the website http://eattheinvaders.org/, a great site to peruse if you've got some extra time.  I'll add in the site's logo here as well, simply because I love their tagline:

"Attack of the 6.5 mm Flowers"

Cheesy?  Yes, but that's the attraction!

The Alien Plant Working Group, under the Plant Conservation Alliance and the National Park Service, is one of the originators of creating funny, over-the-top educational material about invasive species.  For quite a few years they produced invasive species calendars, with each year having a different quirky theme.  One year (2008 I believe) the calendar spoofed movie posters.  With so many to choose from (roughly 12 since it was a calendar!), I had a hard time settling in on this one of the invasive forget-me-not!  Keep an eye out for this plant; though you may have to look hard, afterall it is only 6.5 mm.

"Lionfish: the Pirate of the Carribbean"


Venomous spines and now swords!  That is one gnarly pirate!

This poster, pulled off of the World Lionfish Hunters Association Facebook Page, is a great drawing.  Better yet was the tagline added in "Lionfish: the REAL Pirate of the Caribbean Plundering our Reefs".  Check out all of the cool information and fun pictures that they have at http://lionfish.co/.  Yes, I really like this poster, but honestly I added this to the post mainly to confess that I am extremely interested in hunting lionfish and really do want to plan to do this sometime soon.  So if any of you hardcore lionfish hunters are reading this blog and wouldn't mind an easily sunburnt, prone to sea-sickness, midwesterner tagging along, I'm your man!

"Invasive Art"
h/t Lori Taylor

I got these two drawings from Lori Taylor.  She did them for an invasive poster and sent them over to me, thinking they would be good additions to the slogan series.  She was definitely right about that.  This is impressive work.  If I had to choose a cartoon character for Garlic Mustard, then I would definitely go with the Grinch.  The face is spot-on!  I love how the 'marsh vader' is holding a Phrag stem as a light saber.  Nice work Lori!

Moving Invaders

Changing gears here from invasive species in movies to getting people to stop moving invasive species.  We all know that prevention is the cheapest, easiest, and most successful method of invasive species management; so it should come as no surprise that many educational slogans focus on getting people to stop moving these things around!  We are all guilty of forgetting to clean our boots or not getting every piece of milfoil that's hanging off of our boat trailer.  I am ashamed to say that I have been responsible for introducing several bad invaders onto my land through carelessness or simple laziness.  At least I can also say that I am responsible for eradicating several of these same bad invaders from my land that were introduced by some careless and lazy oaf (not mentioning any names).

"Blow the Whistle on Canada Thistle"
h/t Amy Ferriter

PlayCleanGo.org - a great resource for clever slogans and art!

The folks up in Minnesota really started a great trend when they developed the Play Clean Go program.  This effort is kind of like the "Protect Your Waters' campaign only for terrestrial habitats as well.  Just like Prairie Home Companion and the Emerald Ash Borer, the Play Clean Go program started from humble beginnings in the upper midwest and is spreading throughout the nation.  Let's hope that it becomes as successful and well-known as Prairie Home Companion and not nearly as destructive and hated as Emerald Ash Borer!

Here's another one from the Play Clean Go portfolio, this time from Idaho (h/t Amy Ferriter)

There's that yellow star-thistle rearing its ugly head again.

Boots, Boots, and more Boots

Boots are a unviersal piece of equipment for outdoor recreationists and definitely serve as the vehicle for many-a-wandering invader looking to hang its hat elsewhere.  As such, the boots (or actually their owners) are the target of intensive outreach efforts to get people to clean those clod-hoppers once in a while!
I've found a ton of boot-related invasive species slogans and material.  Here is just a smattering:

"Clean Drain Dry Your Gear"

Based upon the number of educational material produced, Idaho really does not want you to move invasive species around

The above one is another example of Idaho's great educational material.  Wading boots can move aquatic species around, especially if those boots have felt soles.  I've had the privledge of spending some time in Idaho in the past and I really love the state.  However, I must say that the last time I drove through there I got a speeding ticket (unjustly I feel, Darn you tourist speed trap!), so that left a bad taste in my mouth for the state.  Instead of thinking of the beautiful mountains and lovely forests when I hear about Idaho, now all I can think of is the $45 I had to mail in!  So please do visit the great state of Idaho, just slow down a bit when you are coming into Coeur d'Alene.

"Look Before You Leave"


Those little knotweeds sure do look happy!

Our neighbors-to-the-north with the Ontario Invasive Plant Council have really been excelling when it comes to getting the word out about invasive species.  Recently on their Facebook page, they displayed a series of cartoons centered around the "Look Before You Leave" slogan.  Each of these drawings features a different invader along with a scenario where they might be spread around.  It is no surprise that boots made it into their series.  Keep up the good work Ontario IPC!  I do not know the artist for these, but if someone does, please send me their name so that I can properly tip my hat to them for putting their talent to good use.

**UPDATE:  I was contacted by OIPC with further information on their "Look Before You Leave" Cartoons. These are the work of the artist Maureen Shelleau from Off the Dock Cartoons (http://www.offthedocktoons.com/).  Great job Marueen and thanks OIPC for the update!


"Stop Invasive Species in Your Tracks: Give Invasive Species the Brush Off"

This dog looks very concerned about the state of those hiking boots. 
I wonder if you can train dogs to sniff out garlic mustard seeds?

Yet another slogan from the Play Clean Go program.  I really like the dual play off slogans at use here in this flyer.  First, changing 'its' with 'your' is a clever switch to an old saying, but it's the double-meaning of 'Brush-off' that sets off this slogan as worthy of addition to the post.

I'm Getting in on the Act

Hey, I recognize that boot!

Just to prove that I can jump on the bandwagon with the best of them, here is a shot of a boot owned and used by yours truly in mid-brush!  I use this shot in presentations about invasive species spread.  Also, below is a screenshot and link to a short story on the local PBS station I did on boot brush stations.  I expect notification of my academy award nomination anyday now!

http://rtrcwma.blogspot.com/2012/05/video-on-cwmas-boot-brush-project.html

"Squeal on Pigs"
h/t Shawna Bautista

Call the 'Swine Line'!

This is one of my all-time favorite invasive species slogans.  I was so glad when Shawna Bautista, from the USFS, told me about this program from Oregon.  Best of all, the number used is named 'The Swine Line'.  It doesn't get any better than this!  Feral hogs are a major problem throughout the United States.  We need to do anything we can to get people aware of this issue and willing to help out and report sightings.  Oregon is definitely on the right track here with their Squeal on Pigs Program.

"Malicious but Delicious"
h/t Karen Tharp


Now this is my type of invasive species control!

Speaking of feral swine, The Nature Conservancy has teamed up with a local resturant down in Austin Texas to raise awareness about some 'Malicious but Delicious' invasive species.  This effort, called 'Texas is Tasty' includes an awesome looking meal cooked with known Texas invaders.  Be sure to check out more about this innovative program at nature.org/texasistasty.  As their flyer says, the answer to the question "How Can We Fight Back?" should always be "Let's Eat Them"!

"Carpy-Swine or Swiny-carp"

You can't believe what modern science can do these days

One last pig-related item before I end this post.  This is not a slogan nor is it being used in advertisting (as far as I know).  I included it here in this post simply because it made me laugh!  Can you think of a worse invasive species than a wild swine / carp cross?

I was forwarded this by several other people so I am not sure who I should rightfully acknowledge as my source, but if you deal with aquatic invasive species, you'll likely get this in your inbox sometime soon as well.



These slogan posts were originally intended to be a three-part series.  However, I've had so much fun writing these and have gotten so many great slogans and pictures sent to me that we just keep going.  This was our sixth post.  I'm definitely planning on continuing this series, so look for another slogan post in a few months.  As always, if you see something that you think would be good to include, send it to me at rivertoriver@gmail.com.

Please do check out the other entries in this series This series on invasive species slogans with posts on Play-off, Alliteration, Rhyming, Mascots, and Illustrations. Also, check out all of the FUN posts we've put up on this blog. To follow the Illinois ISAM news blog, 'like' us at www.facebook.com/illinoisisam.