I cringe when I receive a letter from the city of Burnsville. 

Half of Alimagnet is on the Burnsville side and the other half is on the Apple Valley side. Apple Valley doesn't do deer removal, thankfully, but Burnsville does. In the past I've questioned the Burnsville city biologist about this choice and the explanation was understandable. They said they're protecting the ecosystem in the park. I accepted it because I know that a large population of deer can negatively impact species diversity of forests, but that isn't the case this year.

This past summer was a difficult one for those who live on the edge of Alimagnet Park. For the first time since homes were built in this area wildlife started dropping dead all in the same part of the park. There were 3 dead fawn, 2 dead doe, and dead raccoon all in the same vicinity. It was clear that the animals didn't just drop dead of natural causes. Two were does that had fawns and the fawns ran around crying. It was heartbreaking. The wildlife rehabbers wouldn't accept the fawns because of chronic wasting disease and the Department of Natural Resources wouldn't investigate the causes of death. 

 It's the deer. Deer are one of the best parts of the park. 

The deer are in the park year round, in winter they gather in larger numbers, in spring the does are dropping fawns, in summer the does are hanging out with their fawns and teaching them how to do the deer life, and in autumn the bucks are seen quite a bit during the rut chasing down the does. It doesn't matter how many times you experience the deer or which season you experience them in, it never gets boring because they are always enjoyable to see and they truly do make the park special and unique. Why unique? Because not many Minnesota parks sustain a healthy deer population the way Alimagnet does. 

I guarantee if you visit the park on a regular basis you will definitely run into a deer. 

It was a late spring with the cold lasting longer than usual. The turtles took a bit more time to come out of their slumber, but now they are busy making the long walk across busy roads to lay their eggs. Thankfully on our end of the city we have Alimagnet park and an abundance of water sources for the turtles to hang out in since the defunct nearby golf course and its man made ponds are now under development. It's really sad to drive by and see all the trees being removed and a few dead turtles flattened while trying to make the journey to their nesting spots. Alimagnet is a safe haven for turtles that are struggling to survive.