DCHS’s Wildlife Center admitted a False Map Turtle on September 3, 2025 as part of a legal confiscation case. From what we know, she was inappropriately kept as a pet for at least five years, originated from an unknown location, and was housed with two other wild-caught Western Painted Turtles. She could not be released back into the wild because of the risk for disease transfer to another population and because freshwater turtles are known to spend their lives in a specific location – usually within the watershed where they were born. Not knowing where that is risks releasing a turtle into an area at “our best guess” and being wrong, forcing a turtle to translocate, which could be hundreds of miles away with scary barriers to cross.
While we could have sought placement with a licensed captive wildlife facility, the decision was made to keep her as part of our new wildlife education program. As an uncommon species, she is a great representation of native reptile diversity in Wisconsin.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), False Map Turtles inhabit major rivers stemming from the Mississippi River and are primarily located in the western half of the state. They are distinguished from Northern or Southern Map turtles by appearance (no spot under the eye on the lower jaw) and from Ouachita Map Turtles by size and prominence of the carapace keel (False Map Turtles average smaller size and have a less prominent keel). Their behavior is known as “shy” and “skittish,” even in the wild.
Initially, the False Map Turtle was as mistrusting and fearful of humans as any wild animal should be. After we upgraded her old enclosure (a 10-gallon stock tank) to a massive, 125-gallon aquarium, with an above- tank basking spot, her behavior changed. She started to emerge more often rather than hide from people, show interest in her surroundings, and eat crunchy foods when presented to her. There are medical complications resulting from poor husbandry that still need to be addressed with time and care from our Wildlife Center team, but we are hopeful that she will live a long, fulfilling life as an ambassador animal of her species.
In her new enclosure, our False Map Turtle has been steadily gaining confidence, curiosity, and appetite. To satisfy her hunger and keep human interactions friendly, our wildlife education team has begun target-training her. Essentially, our turtle is presented with a bright red “target”. If she chooses to touch the target, she gets a treat (her favorite is snails!). From there, we may pick her up to perform care tasks or just continue feeding her, but if she touches the target, she always gets fed. This is a method used for building an association between the target and her food. She is always fed by a specific member of our team while being handled, which is limited to one or two people. This consistency helps her build trust with her caretakers and hopefully learn that being picked up really isn’t that bad! Thankfully, she is very food motivated and picked up this system fast, following the red target anywhere in her tank. She becomes visibly excited whenever the target is brought out, which is promising for her future in education. Watch a video of her training below.
If you are curious about our turtle or how target training works, you can see a live feeding on Sunday, March 8, 2026 at our WildSide Discovery Day! In the meantime, we need to name our False Map Turtle ambassador and are looking to supporters to for suggestions. Whether you see her in person at an upcoming Discovery Day, watch a video on our social media pages (Facebook or Instagram), or see her photo online, she may inspire you to submit a name nomination for our team to consider. We are collecting names through Valentine's Day (February 14, 2026), after which Wildlife staff will narrow down our favorite submissions in time for our biggest fundraising event of the year, Toto’s Gala on March 20, 2026, where VIP attendees will get the exclusive opportunity to vote for the winning name. We hope to unveil her name soon after! To submit a nomination, click on the button below.
Dave Mackler is the Wildlife Educator and a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator, and Jackie Edmunds is the Wildlife Program Manager at DCHS's Wildlife Center.
