Give them a “brake”: Friends of Pool 9 initiates effort to protect local turtles during their critical nesting season

Female turtles of at least eight different species frequently move across highways, gravel roads and muddy side-tracks in the local area to find places to lay their precious eggs. At this time, the Driftless Area is currently at or near the peak of the critical three-month long turtle nesting season for 2025, according to Friends of Pool 9.

“Unfortunately, far too many vehicle drivers do not pay sufficient attention to these slow moving forms of wildlife, and either smash them accidentally, or to get some sort of weird thrill out of crushing them,” shares Friends of Pool 9 members. “Either way, using caution to avoid running over turtles (or any type of wildlife) is an easier solution than is commonly realized. Be alert. Be careful.”

Board members of the non-profit conservation organization Friends of Pool 9, Ric Zarwell of Lansing and Bruce Kilmer of Genoa, WI, have spearheaded an initiative to place signs (as pictured above), to prevent the needless killing of turtles which are only trying to bring forth the next generation of their species.  Following this year’s turtle nesting season, the signs will be taken down and re-used during future nesting seasons.

So far in the Pool 9 area, signs have been placed along the heavily-used Army Road leading to a boat landing east of New Albin; and at Millstone Landing two miles further north in Minnesota. In Wisconsin, signs have been placed at both ends of the De Soto ponds, near the entrance to Black Hawk Park and throughout that large and busy park, at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery, and near the mouth of the Bad Axe River.

The Friends of Yellow River State Forest, another non-profit organization, have also partnered in this year’s effort. Staff at the state forest have placed signs at each of two locations where nesting turtles have most often been killed by vehicles in the past.

The turtles needing protection from drivers occur in a variety of ponds, streams, and marshes, as well as in the Mississippi River floodplain and its numerous sloughs and backwaters. Turtles are the slowest moving wildlife, and killing them can be, and should be, easily avoided.

“There are several easy ways to show female turtles trying to reach or return from a nesting site the kind of love they deserve!” Friends of Pool 9 shares. “Obviously, watch the surface of all roadways carefully, and always be aware of traffic from both directions.”

Friends of Pool 9 also offers the following easy, humane steps to take to avoid running over turtles:
• First, when safe to do so, a driver can park on the shoulder of the road and carefully carry a small turtle in the direction it is trying to go, thus saving a part of the local wildlife.
• Second, drivers can slow down, check for traffic, and simply drive around a turtle. This is the second-best approach because the next driver may not be so kind, and kill that particular turtle before it gets to where it wants to go.

Even a Snapping Turtle, the largest local species, can be moved off the roadway by carefully using a strong stick, broom handle or similar tool. Be sure to avoid the head of Snapping Turtles - unlike the smaller turtles, they definitely are defensive and frequently “snap” as a defense mechanism. Picking these heavy turtles up by the tail should also be avoided. Lifting this species by the tail can break the tail away from the spine and cause very serious injury or death. All other turtle species in the local area can be easily moved in the direction they are trying to go by simply using bare hands to hold them by their left and right sides.

State Departments of Transportation and some counties have stricter regulations for signs, and the Friends of Pool 9 hope to meet their criteria to get slightly different signs posted in 2026 on state and county roadways surrounding the wildlife-rich Pool 9 in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Turtles play a major role in the ecology of Pool 9, as well as in many ponds, marshes and streams in the local area. The Friends of Pool 9 are taking action to keep wild turtles a part of nature’s future, and not a thing of the past.

“No turtle deserves to be crushed by unaware or uncaring drivers, least of all a female seeking to lay her precious eggs to perpetuate her kind,” the group shares. “Next time you see a turtle on any roadway (or anywhere else), please give them a ‘brake’.”