Is this a sanctuary? A mini-zoo? These are the sprawling grounds of Facebook, the social networking giant’s headquarter campus in Menlo Park, California. A mother fox and her three kittens decided to settle down on some of the most expensive real estate in the world.
With no questions asked and no need for a diploma from Stanford or Harvard, these new members of the Facebook grounds-keeping team have camouflaged nicely into their new digs. They are comfortable walking around and living day-to-day among the thousands of employees who watch them at a respectful distance.
“We’ve had foxes on campus for years,” Jackie Rooney, a Facebook spokeswoman, said in an email. “They were first spotted by Facebook when we were setting up for the initial move-in, December of 2011.”
Rooney said the family lives under one of the decks between two buildings. The kits were first seen around April.
With the inaugural launching of their own Facebook page, created by Alexis Smith, the mother fox and her family are now official high-tech members of the Silicon Valley community. With thousands of “Likes” on the “The FB Fox” Facebook page, no need to be rich and famous, just cute and adorable.
Their page shows photos of them strolling on the walkways near employees as if they own the place, adorably chasing each other around, hanging out in a tree, and the sweetest foxy babies relaxing or taking a nap among the ecologically and naturally coiffured vegetation.
“The foxes are California grey foxes, and they are native to the area,” Rooney said. “Our facilities team have been in contact with wildlife services and other local experts to learn how to best coexist with the foxes.”
Employees and other visitors are very respectful of the foxes, and don’t try to feed or pet them, she said.
In addition to Facebook, people also share their FB Fox photos on Instagram, with the hashtag #fbfox.
Among the fans who have given the foxes a thumbs up is company founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Lina Broydo is an Arts, Travel, and Style Writer from Los Altos Hills, Calif.
