
As Google Feeds Cats, Owl Lovers Cry Foul - hooloovoo_zoo
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/technology/google-cats-owls.html
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ChuckMcM
Clearly they need some Coyotes out there too.

When I was at Sun, the 'main' campus early on was at 2550 Garcia ave, (now
Intuit) and we would walk around shoreline at Lunch. There were lots of signs
to be aware of and not to disturb the burrowing owls (which once was
misspelled the borrowing owls and so we had a lot of pan handling owl jokes
for a while).

When I worked at Google (on Amphitheatre way) there was a cat there that had a
badge. But I think that one stayed indoors.

If Google has chipped the cats as they say in the article, then an RFID
reading station in the owl territory would allow them to identify and
eliminate those cats predating on the owls I expect.

~~~
mirimir
> If Google has chipped the cats as they say in the article, then an RFID
> reading station in the owl territory would allow them to identify and
> eliminate those cats predating on the owls I expect.

That's a good idea. But still probably unacceptable to cat lovers. Maybe there
are middle options. Google could build a _very large cage_ , and release non-
adopted cats there. Or if that's not feasible, it could declaw and/or defang
them. And yes, I know that those are horrible things to do to cats (or anyone,
for that matter). But maybe it's better than death.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I expect a defanged/declawed cat would not be able to fend for itself and
would die through starvation or predation.

Cat lovers and bird lovers have been fighting over the restored wetlands on
the south side of the bay since the late 70's as far as I can ascertain.

~~~
mirimir
Agreed. That's why I said that it was horrible. But death would be better?

Also:

> “Google understands the cats are not supposed to cross the line into the
> park,” a spokeswoman for the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority said.

But in the photo, we see a cat heading for a picket fence. So why not build a
real fence, which cats can penetrate? Or build a ~1 ha cage?

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throwaway080383
Are the most trivial of topics publishable if they say something negative
about a big tech company? I think NYT would not have gone with this if say,
John Deere employees were feeding cats outside their headquarters.

~~~
wpietri
Gosh, it's almost like Google is a company 10x the size of John Deere, one
used by billions of people (and the great bulk of the NYT's readers).

And you might note that this is in the section specifically devoted to
covering the technology industry. Do you also object to the Times having that
and not an agriculture section?

~~~
fanzhang
John Deere has about 66K employees and Google has about 85K. Also, the former
literally makes money by altering the environment whereas the latter is
generally web-based.

I think this is the exact point the OP is talking about: Google seems big
because it's bigger by profits. Also, not unrelated, some people here and
elsewhere feel more emotional about Google. So take some otherwise small-town
public-interest story and push it for views.

~~~
hueving
>Also, the former literally makes money by altering the environment whereas
the latter is generally web-based.

Do you think the web is some magical place outside of the environment? Google
has more servers running than any other company in the world consuming
significant amounts of energy.

~~~
fanzhang
Out of all the organizations that do bad for public policy, you're going after
Google. And out of all the things you can get Google for, you're going after
the latent heat of their servers?

~~~
wpietri
Nobody is "going after" Google here. It was an interesting article about
unintended consequences. That it involved Google made it a bit more
interesting, as people are understandably curious about a company that touches
most Americans daily -- for many, dozens of times a day.

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21
In other news, Australia just finished building the world largest cat-proof
fence:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
australia-44235185](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-44235185)

Maybe that owl park could be fenced?

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tiredwired
yes, and Google can pay for that.

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amunicio
Nope. Australia is building a fence to keep the cats out and the cats are
going to pay for it.

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fjsolwmv
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds annually.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife)

~~~
Ice_cream_suit
Humans kill 58 billion animals each year.

I do not see anyone suggesting that we stop feeding humans.

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strstr
Feral cats aren't people?

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blarg1
or are they ...

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foobar1962
Feeding feral cats is easy, instant gratification. They should adopt an
endangered owl instead, or make a goal to measure and increase the population.

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rachelbythebay
If they get rid of the owls, then maybe they'll finally be able to build on
the lot next to the park. (There are tons of ground squirrels and then the
owls follow...)

I know, I know, they aren't doing this on purpose, but these things have a
funny way of "just working out"...

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akhilcacharya
It’s dawning on me that news beat on what Google employees is similar to the
one that seems to ask what Ivy League students think of current trends.

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zafka
I am torn by stories like this. I share my house with 6 indoor only cats, but
when i had cats that were inside/outside, they definitely did their fair share
of hunting. On the other hand, I do worry about threatened species, and on top
of it all, my alma mater's mascot is the "fighting burrowing owl" Go Hootie!!!

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pervycreeper
Cats, especially feral cats, commonly carriers of Toxoplasma gondii, are a
public health hazard to humans. The city could potentially employ this fact as
a consideration.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
You pretty much have to directly interact with cat shit to catch toxo, and
cats instinctively shit in out-of-the-way places, so your odds of actually
getting it from a feral cat are pretty slim.

~~~
Ensorceled
Out of the way places like kid’s sandboxes.

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wxuan
I've been around baylands and remember seeing a large group of feral cats a
few years ago under the bayshore freeway underpass. Could explain why they are
gone.

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baryphonic
TL;DR: Six owls that burrow underground (how's that for an adaptation?) used
to live in a Mountain View park. Over the past three years, three of these
have been killed or gone missing. Environmental activists have traced these
deaths and disappearances to cats nurtured by a Google employee group that
feeds feral cats, along with spaying or neutering them. Google has devoted
significant resources to helping these birds survive in other places, but
environmentalists feel that Google is not doing enough about the feral cat
population; in particular, activists worry that the large number of feral cats
represents a slippery slope toward destroying biodiversity in this particular
park.

~~~
qop
Destroying biodiversity is a stretch, it's only three owls...

Also, burrowing owls are Least Concern on IUCN red list. (Least Concern is
their terminology, not mine, I don't agree with it)

So it's not like there's really any merit to the claim that a few cars they
fed, who then killed three owls, is "destroying biodiversity"

It's not that slippery a slope. It's just cats. If they were teaching them and
hunting these owls, obviously thatd be different, but they're not.

Gosh, I hate Google too but it's like they literally can't even feed stray
cats without some sort of controversy from the media or online
pseudoactivists.

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joejerryronnie
You can't take on cat lovers and expect to win. If there's one thing humans
enjoy, it's a subservient apex predator who curls up on your lap and purrs.

~~~
WalterBright
My cat looks at me with "If only you were smaller" eyes. Should I be
concerned?

~~~
foobar1962
You shouldn't anthropomorphise. Animals don't like it.

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wand3r
this article and this comment section are rather terrible. I am really opposed
to Googles business model and the pervasive lack of privacy they inflict on
the world-- but this is such a weird thing to write an article about. I
personally, and this is my own opinion, find the need to save every niche
endangered animal to be both fruitless and silly. Humans have a significant
impact on the environment and should certainly strive to limit the negative
effects as much as possible, but on balance cats eating owls doesn't rank
particularly high on the priority list of high-impact adjustments we need to
make. It's not really Google corporations fault and while feeding animals is
sort of dumb, these feral cats are presumably living in the wild after
escaping from random peoples houses, overbreeding pets and irresponsible pet
ownership is to blame

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megamindbrian2
Why do you want to overpopulate the world with cats? They are a nuisance.

