Was that a wise move? Google’s feral cats develop taste for rare owl

IT STARTED as a well-meaning effort by Google staff to look after feral cats near their Silicon Valley headquarters.

But now the animals are suspected of killing some rare owls in a nearby wildlife refuge. A handful of burrowing owls have nested in the long grass of Shoreline Park, a 750-acre habitat and recreational facility next door to Google in Mountain View, California.

The cats are thought to have been adopted by an employee group called Gcat Rescue that set out to capture feral cats and put kittens and tame adults up for adoption. The more aggressive adults were neutered and released with tracking chips. Feeding stations were established in a process the group called “colony care”.

On its website, Gcat Rescue said: “Neutering and colony care also stop nuisance behaviours like fighting, spraying, roaming, hunting, etc…”

But wildlife groups and scientists dispute this, saying the cats continue to hunt and that without human support they would exist in fewer numbers.

Johanna van de Woestijne, a retired medical researcher, said: “They are instinctive predators and I’ve seen the cats in full pursuit, as well as in ambush pouncing mode, just 100ft from a feeding station.” Eileen Mclaughlin, of a citizens’ committee, said this was a crucial habitat for the dwindling parliament of owls. “Cats are wonderful pets, but there is this conflict with maintaining our wildlife, and the struggle with the burrowing owl is emblematic of that.”

The owls’ behaviour makes them particularly prone to predators during their nesting season, when they lay eggs in burrows. They have already disappeared from many California counties, making Shoreland Park all the more important. Ms Mclaughlin said Google was excellent on many wildlife issues but had failed to respond when asked to remove the feeding stations. On a recent visit she said she saw just one nesting owl. Google could not be contacted for comment.