Google battling 'fox infestation' on roof of £1B London office(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
Google battling 'fox infestation' on roof of £1B London office
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/09/google-foxes-roof-london-kings-cross-office
57 comments
Of course when you read the article to the end you realize that by “fox infestation” they mean one fox.
If those foxes were to spontaneously combust, then Google would have a Firefox problem.
At issue is that the foxes are (slightly) electrocuting themselves, whilst in a metallic bath - thus they are being... chromed.
Sparkfox.
Very BRAVE of you to think that :)
This would make for a great episode in a Silicon Valley soap Opera
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
Unlike say dogs off leashes that will absolutely harass people while owner stands there looking bewildered
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.
On the other hand I think it is pretty cool to have foxes on the roof.
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?
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?
Thinking of Google as a place full of clever kids is a quite outdated view.
You might not like what they are working on or towards but a big old firm like Google has a lot of talent, bought and paid for, on board. Its a vast organisation and therefore will, even by accident, have lots of talented employees. They certainly have plenty of dosh to entice the "best".
I call them "kids" out of habit. I'm 54, so that is probably mostly fair and unfair at the same time - sue me.
I call them "kids" out of habit. I'm 54, so that is probably mostly fair and unfair at the same time - sue me.
> 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
The point of the roof garden is to create a delightful space. Just give the foxes their rabies shots and count your lucky stars that you got such an attraction.
The point of the roof garden is to create a delightful space. Just give the foxes their rabies shots and count your lucky stars that you got such an attraction.
The UK eradicated rabies 100 years ago with a vaccination program.
> The UK eradicated rabies 100 years ago with a vaccination program.
I think they missed some politicians. /s
I think they missed some politicians. /s
Fox also urinate and their’s is notoriously poignant
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.
Great culture reference for the fox problem of London:
The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox
The Mighty Boosh
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008fm1c
I always thought the squirrels were the serious problem: https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2020/04/the-pumped-up-squirrel-o...
"I'ma done a tummy shame"
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?
> 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
Obviously the landscaping was designed to look pretty and win awards, not to host actual wildlife
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.)
(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.)
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…
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.
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...
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...
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.
The artist's impression in the original source on the 'fox infestation' (1) may provide a sense of scale.
1: https://www.londoncentric.media/p/why-lime-bikes-beep
1: https://www.londoncentric.media/p/why-lime-bikes-beep
Right, how the heck did the foxes get on the ROOF in the first place?!
> Right, how the heck did the foxes get on the ROOF in the first place?!
Just like with all Google SW: through RCE. /s
Just like with all Google SW: through RCE. /s
Oh no. What next, salmon in their reflecting pool?
Have they considered aerial fox hunt?
Firefox reigns supreme
Have they considered living in harmony with other sentient creatures?
[deleted]
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.
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.
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 used to have a fox regularly lounging in my gazebo right outside my office window in South London. He didn't care about me unless I opened the door (at which point he would wander off), and didn't bother me at all. It was not a problem beyond a bit of fur on one of the pillows that he liked to sleep on.
London foxes are used to people.
London foxes are used to people.
Foxes aren't particularly dangerous to humans (at least in countries where rabies has been eradicated, like the UK); far less so than, say, dogs.
When I'm walking home very late at night (urban area) I'll often pass one or two. They're just... there.
When I'm walking home very late at night (urban area) I'll often pass one or two. They're just... there.
Foxes live happily in urban areas all over Britain. The problem here is the Google employees.
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.
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.
[deleted]
"House Mozilla sends its regards."
How the fuck did he get on the roof??
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.
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.