Well, Google's office is on ground that was once home to foxes, so they're in the wrong – it's karma. Google is the infestation, not the foxes.
hristov · 1h ago
Of course when you read the article to the end you realize that by “fox infestation” they mean one fox.
ClawsOnPaws · 3h ago
If those foxes were to spontaneously combust, then Google would have a Firefox problem.
awesome_dude · 3h ago
At issue is that the foxes are (slightly) electrocuting themselves, whilst in a metallic bath - thus they are being... chromed.
Qem · 2h ago
Sparkfox.
awesome_dude · 2h ago
Very BRAVE of you to think that :)
Havoc · 2h ago
Just leave them. London foxes are pretty harmless and shy. Getting closer than 2m to one is quite a feat so it’s not like they’re bothering anyone.
Unlike say dogs off leashes that will absolutely harass people while owner stands there looking bewildered
teruakohatu · 1h ago
The article says they are digging barrows. I can understand that when a company spends an exorbitant amount of money on a building with a roof garden and the costs of ongoing maintenance they are not happy it is being dug up, especially if they are digging down to the water barrier.
On the other hand I think it is pretty cool to have foxes on the roof.
gerdesj · 1h ago
Foxes, pigeons, rats etc are generally described as vermin yet they perform vital ecological functions and are somehow maligned for performing it.
They are scavengers (int al). They help keep the place cleaner in return for a small amount of crap and some extra disease vectors.
What I'd really like to hear is that a bunch of clever kids at Google realise that a city has an ecology all of its own and that they need to fit into it and not the other way around. If they have managed to attract foxes then make the best of it.
I wonder if there are there any Plane trees on it?
spacephysics · 54m ago
Fox also urinate and their’s is notoriously poignant
I don't understand why this is a problem.
The roof is surely occupied by birds, rats, and mice.
Is the roof designed to include the natural world or not?
pimlottc · 3h ago
> some foxes had begun to dig burrows in the perfectly manicured grounds
Obviously the landscaping was designed to look pretty and win awards, not to host actual wildlife
woodruffw · 3h ago
Another possible interpretation is that the grounds are laid out such that rainfall doesn't cause the roof's soil to erode and wash off.
(This is without any positive or negative value judgement, just an observation that we don't have to reach for "it needs to look pretty" to explain why having foxes on the roof isn't ideal.)
pimlottc · 3h ago
I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on this project in particular, just to note that while we often expect nature to conform to our specifications, it may have other ideas…
neilv · 3h ago
It's karma, for Google effectively seizing the beloved public roof garden in Cambridge (USA), for their offices.
Now the 'secret garden' refuge of stressed MIT students, office workers, and locals... has shrunk, and been re-landscaped, as a kinda creepy Google-style nano-campus party roof deck, which feels like you're trespassing, and you're the view for their windows and the new surveillance cameras.
Facebook has had foxes in the roof garden in MPK21 for years and they don't seem to cause any problems. Is it a different type of fox?
dhosek · 3h ago
I’m looking at the picture and the roof is many stories up in the sky. I think they’ve got foxes in more places than just the roof.
flufluflufluffy · 16m ago
Right, how the heck did the foxes get on the ROOF in the first place?!
pfdietz · 30m ago
Oh no. What next, salmon in their reflecting pool?
cosmicgadget · 1h ago
"House Mozilla sends its regards."
itsanaccount · 3h ago
Have they considered living in harmony with other sentient creatures?
deepsun · 2h ago
On grand scale -- it's possible. But try to live in harmony in a shared space with a wild fox or a wolf. Not good for you, not for the sentient creatures.
rodgerd · 24m ago
Foxes live happily in urban areas all over Britain. The problem here is the Google employees.
itsanaccount · 1h ago
I ain't saying this in the hypothetical, here's the flowing spring wetlands that is my front yard. https://ibb.co/7dmnC4x5
Not everything is perfect. I am not "kill nothing." But I try very hard to live well with nature by trying to understand it.
And its good for all of us.
wredcoll · 2h ago
Wait, what?
I live in harmony near lots of wild things, including some foxes. They stay on the outside of my house and I stay on the inside. It's not "perfect" but it works pretty well.
No comments yet
more_corn · 4h ago
Have they considered aerial fox hunt?
highpost · 3h ago
Menlo Park is not in San Francisco.
hengheng · 4h ago
London has foxes, and they'll dig a hole where they can, and they are hard to catch?
Give me a break.
vidarh · 3h ago
London is full of foxes, that are so unafraid of people that it's not uncommon for them casually walking past in the middle of the day.
FridayoLeary · 2h ago
Just shoot them. It may sound incredible to brits but that's actually legal.
I assume,
based on no evidence that foxes keep down the rat population. I see far more foxes then rats. Also they cause less problems then rats so i tolerate them.
Unlike say dogs off leashes that will absolutely harass people while owner stands there looking bewildered
On the other hand I think it is pretty cool to have foxes on the roof.
They are scavengers (int al). They help keep the place cleaner in return for a small amount of crap and some extra disease vectors.
What I'd really like to hear is that a bunch of clever kids at Google realise that a city has an ecology all of its own and that they need to fit into it and not the other way around. If they have managed to attract foxes then make the best of it.
I wonder if there are there any Plane trees on it?
Obviously the landscaping was designed to look pretty and win awards, not to host actual wildlife
(This is without any positive or negative value judgement, just an observation that we don't have to reach for "it needs to look pretty" to explain why having foxes on the roof isn't ideal.)
Now the 'secret garden' refuge of stressed MIT students, office workers, and locals... has shrunk, and been re-landscaped, as a kinda creepy Google-style nano-campus party roof deck, which feels like you're trespassing, and you're the view for their windows and the new surveillance cameras.
The fox spirits know your selfish transgressions.
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2012/05/22/despite-urging-new-b...
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2012/07/19/public-loses-40-of-r...
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2013/09/12/one-year-later-agenc...
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2015/06/23/ex-cra-official-pays...
Not everything is perfect. I am not "kill nothing." But I try very hard to live well with nature by trying to understand it.
And its good for all of us.
I live in harmony near lots of wild things, including some foxes. They stay on the outside of my house and I stay on the inside. It's not "perfect" but it works pretty well.
No comments yet
Give me a break.
I assume, based on no evidence that foxes keep down the rat population. I see far more foxes then rats. Also they cause less problems then rats so i tolerate them.