ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF ALIMAGNET PARK

 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. 

If you are in the park and encounter a deer, DO NOT FEED them! It's illegal to feed deer anywhere in Apple Valley. In 2020 wild deer in Dakota County was confirmed positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). To prevent the spread of this lethal cervid disease the DNR has banned all feeding and attractants in Dakota County as well as several other counties across the state. To learn more go HERE and HERE

If you visit the park in spring it isn't unusual to see deer that look like the following:

This deer was seen at the edge of the park in my backyard. The deer look like this or worse every spring and it's normal. Deer are skinny because of poor food resources over winter and they are also losing their winter coat. They'll look bulky and healthy all winter and then around April they are looking quite thin, sometimes with ribs showing and their coats are patchy. This does not mean they need to be fed. Deer are quite resilient and they will start to put on weight as soon as vegetation appears. 
The following photo was taken in the park. Someone had put out a large number of apples which I assume is for the deer. Feeding deer causes them to congregate in large numbers and if just one is infected with CWD it can pass it to all the others. CWD is always fatal, there's no cure. To learn more about Chronic Wasting Disease go HERE and HERE.