Lansing · Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties
A dead deer on your property
Lansing has enough deer in town to run a management program with the DNR, USDA Wildlife Services and MSU. Deer die on residential lots here, and when one does it is a private job, part of what this Lansing line arranges.
The exception is a deer in the road. That is not yours, and it is worth thirty seconds to sort out which it is before anyone is paid.
Whose deer is it
Michigan's road agencies split by who maintains the road, and the state's own transportation department spells it out.
| Where it is | Whose job | Why |
|---|---|---|
| On I-96, I-69, I-496, US-127 or any M-route | Michigan Department of Transportation | MDOT says it removes roadkill and carcasses that pose a safety hazard on state-maintained I, M and US routes, reported through the nearest MDOT office. |
| On a county road | The county road agency | MDOT's FAQ: county road commissions handle roadkill on roads under their jurisdiction. |
| On a Lansing city street | Report it to the city | Lansing takes non-emergency requests through Lansing Connect. Whether and how fast a carcass is collected is theirs to answer. |
| On your lawn, your lot, your field | You | The Bodies of Dead Animals Act puts disposal on the owner of the premises. Road-killed deer are exempt from that Act's disposal rules, but a deer on your land is not roadkill in the road. |
Sources: MDOT "Commonly asked questions"; MCL 287.671 (Bodies of Dead Animals Act 239 of 1982); City of Lansing, Lansing Connect. Agencies change their arrangements without notice; confirm anything that matters.
What the job turns on
Weight, then access. An adult whitetail is more than one person wants to drag, and where it came to rest decides everything: near a driveway in Okemos is one price, down a wooded slope behind a Haslett lot with no way to back a truck in is another. Say which you have.
Time matters as well. A deer that went down last night and one that has been in a warm field for a week are not the same piece of work, and the second one takes more than the animal with it.
Burying it yourself
Michigan law allows burial at not less than two feet below the surface, within 24 hours. For a full-grown deer that is a large hole in ground that, across much of Ingham and Eaton counties, is clay a foot down. Most people who start that job with a shovel finish it with a phone call.
Before you drag it to the road
Moving a deer onto the shoulder so the road crew takes it puts you in traffic and, depending on the road, may not get it collected either. Call whoever maintains that road instead.
Ready to hand
- Distance from a driveway or field entrance.
- Whether a vehicle can reach it.
- How long it has been there.
- Soft ground, a slope, standing water.