Who deals with animals that meet their untimely demise on the road in Minnesota?

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Roadkill in Minnesota is unfortunately a common sight. Deer, coyotes and skunks often meet a sad (and in the case of the latter, odorific) fate on the state’s roadways.

But what happens to the animals after they meet their untimely demise? That’s what reader Bob Abbott has been wondering. He contacted the Strib’s community reporting project, Curious Minnesota, to find out.

“I live in Alexandria at a lake in the summer. And as we head to our winter home in Florida, we see so many dead deer, raccoons, et cetera, alongside the highways,” Abbott said. “I’ve always wondered, who risks their lives to retrieve the dead bodies?”

It depends. Workers with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and other local road authorities are on the roadkill retrieval front lines. But agencies like the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also issue permits to regular folks wanting to pick up a carcass.

This means that roadkill in Minnesota typically ends up in one of three places — it could land in a shallow roadside grave, in a special compost heap or on someone’s dinner table.

Roadkill incidents occur all year long. But as the Curious Minnesota questioner Abbott observed, they tend to increase during the fall, said Anne Meyer, a MnDOT spokesperson.

This is because the deer rut during fall. Their behavior changes as they seek out mates, causing them to become more active near roadways.

At one time, DNR conservation officers were largely responsible for Minnesota wildlife killed by vehicles. In 1987, however, a law shifted much of that responsibility to local road authorities. Now, conservation officers generally only get involved when a driver wants to salvage the animal and take it themselves.

If no one wants the roadkill or if the DNR deems it too far gone, MnDOT takes care of dead animals found on interstate, U.S. and state highways. County highway departments do so on county roads and county-state aid highways, while city or township road authorities take care of smaller roads and streets.

When MnDOT gets a call or online report of roadkill, they notify a crew about the animal. If the body is in the lane of traffic, a worker from the nearest truck station will remove the roadkill as soon as possible to avoid further problems, said Meyer.

MnDOT has 148 truck stations throughout the state that assist in roadkill removal.

If the animal is not a traffic hazard, it may take a crew a day or two to remove it, Meyer said.

Once the crews arrive at the scene, they check to see if they can take care of it on-site. They often simply put the remains in the ditch. They might cover it up with organic material like wood chips, mulch or dirt, Meyer said. If the ditch has a back slope covered in tall grass, they may put it there.

This isn’t possible in some metro locations. So MnDOT has a special deer composting area in Anoka where crews dump the roadkill.

Minnesota is one of about two dozen states that allow the public to pick up roadkill. Here, it’s free. But prospective meat-gleaners need a wildlife possession permit first.

The DNR gets permit requests from people who hit the animal with their own vehicle as well from those who just spotted it on the side of the road, said DNR spokesperson Joe Albert.

“So long as the animal isn’t federally protected, such as a waterfowl or a wolf, and there’s no reason to believe something occurred other than the animal getting hit by a vehicle, people will be issued a permit,” he said.

Conservation officers have issued 1,149 permits so far in 2024, he said. Other state, county and municipal law enforcement groups can also issue permits — and some have lists of regular roadkill enthusiasts they call when a dead animal is spotted.

”Spring and fall are the most common times" for roadkill, said Albert. “As far as DNR enforcement goes, the most common possession permits we issue are for whitetail deer, and those are the seasons they tend to be most active around roadways.”

When it comes to possession permits, a DNR officer will often hustle to the scene within a few minutes, Albert said. “Time is often of the essence to ensure the animal is usable,” he said.

During summer months when temperatures average in the mid-80s, deer can spoil within a few hours. However, there is a little more grace during the winter months.

If the animal is declared unsalvageable, MnDOT or local authorities will then remove the roadkill.

If it is declared salvageable and the permit is issued, the person can take the animal with them and do as they wish.

Many Minnesotans do eat roadkill — making meals of “truck-struck pheasant” or skinning a deer found by the roadside to make venison meatloaf, as Star Tribune reporter Rachel Hutton wrote in 2022.

Others bring roadkill to places such as the Bell Museum. As part of the St. Paul natural history museum’s project called “Salvage Wildlife,” people are asked to drop off freshly dead and intact birds and small-to-medium-sized mammals (that means no deer and no pets).

The museum’s team of researchers then recovers samples and data they can use for science — including tracking the spread of diseases and assessing environmental conditions.

If you’d like to submit a Curious Minnesota question, fill out the form below:

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Why does Minneapolis keep planting trees under power lines?

Why is Minnesota the only mainland state with an abundance of wolves?

Were grizzly bears ever indigenous to Minnesota?

Are more wild animals moving into Minnesota’s cities?

How do small animals survive Minnesota’s brutal winters?