After Halloween, animals at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo enjoyed some treats for Halloween, Zoo Supervisor and Curator Ashley Burdick said.

Toby the leopard received a pumpkin to play with from the Long Pumpkin Patch.

Dwight the bearded dragon wore a Halloween costume briefly as the staff created a video of him grabbing treats with his tongue. While the costume probably amused staff more than Dwight, he seemed to enjoy the treats and was dubbed the “fastest snacker in the West.” 

Viewers can watch the video of Dwight on the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo Facebook page. Other videos include a close-up of the two alligators, Alvin and Allister, enjoying a snack.

Changes at the butterfly house

“We just did some wildflower planting around the current Butterfly House to attract native pollinators and provide them with crucial habitat,” Burdick said. “We are going to be changing up the Butterfly House next year to make it an open garden area to attract the native pollinators, instead of purchasing them every few weeks.”

In the past, shipments of butterflies arrived every spring, imported as pupae from Florida. They were hot glued to a branch and hatched about two weeks later.

“We feel this  (change) is an important step to help conserve our pollinators, as they are responsible for one of every three bites of food we as humans consume,” Burdick said.

According to “A Pocket Guide to Common Kansas Butterflies,” by Jim Mason, 190 species of butterflies have been recorded within Kansas’s borders. The Pocket Guide covers 61 of the common and interesting species.

Alligator house

As cold weather approaches, the new Alligator House is open, Burdick said. As of this week, staff have been able to get one of the two alligators inside, “but the other has not wanted to be brought in just yet,” she said. “We will keep trying, though.”

The ‘gators are too big to catch and carry indoors, so for the last few years they have stayed on their pond through the winter, burrowing into the mud for warmth. The new building is next to the pond and has a chute that the alligators, Alvin and Allister, can walk up to enter on their own – coaxed with a treat. This will be a better alternative for cold weather and the public will be able to look through the window to see what they are doing.

Animal physicals

As his annual physical this year, Luke the lion weighed 565 pounds.

“Male lions on average weigh around 350-450 pounds, with the max generally being around 570 pounds,” Burdick noted. “While Luke is large, on our body condition scale he ranks 3.5 out of 5, which is slightly over the preferred 3. We do monitor all  of our animals and have charts for many of the different species we house to ensure our animals are all a healthy weight.”