By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The storm that moved through Great Bend on July 16 caused some obvious damage to homes and trees. Less obvious was the toll on local wildlife. Several bird species make their nests in the summer, and Brit Spaugh Zoo Director Ashley Burdick said many of those babies made their way into the facility's Raptor Rehabilitation Program. In all, the zoo took in more than a dozen birds.
"With that many, we got a little bit overwhelmed because we were already full from other birds that needed a little bit longer-term care," Burdick said. "We have a couple of eagles, still. It was a little overwhelming because they also require a lot more feeding when they're little like that."
Most of the birds impacted were Mississippi kites and mourning doves though an injured Cooper's hawk was also found in a resident's yard.
"Some of them, unfortunately, were really small, like the mourning doves, and they didn't make it," said Burdick. "I think we have all but one Mississippi kite that we are working on raising up, then they should be releasable in the next couple weeks."
Earlier this year, the Great Bend Zoological Society and zoo staff revamped the raptor center, which typically helps rehabilitate between 30 and 100 raptors each year.