By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Brit Spaugh Zoo has a new face just in time for the spring. Zoo Director Ashley Burdick said the facility is currently in the process of getting Reggie the Raccoon approved for an exhibit, which will be located by the current bobcat and red-tailed hawk exhibits.
“Somebody had been raising it from a little baby, then kind of abandoned it in a rental property,” Burdick said. “The landlord contacted us, then we have to go through some paperwork with the state to keep an animal like that.”
Burdick said raccoons are fond of naps, but Reggie’s new exhibit will include a perch and small pool.
“He’s one of our best animals,” she joked. “He washes his toys at night for us. That’s kind of considerate of him.”
A new raccoon exhibit is one of several updates to the zoo since last winter. The zoo is now home to a rehab eagle that will not be releasable. Once permitted, Burdick said the zoo would like to feature the bird in the center of the facility. Other physical improvements have been made throughout zoo.
“We added some new concrete to connect a few areas of the zoo that just had asphalt millings before,” said Burdick. “We finished doing most of our new public fencing in the last year, so it’s all black chain-link now instead of the old wood that was starting to fall apart.”
Upcoming projects include renovation of outdoor bathrooms and the “ed shed” in the northeast corner of the zoo that may be rented for private events like birthday parties. Burdick said the goal is to begin work on those projects in the next year or two.