Five kittens survived a roughly 500-mile trip to San Diego tucked inside a 60-foot steel column, the San Diego Humane Society said Wednesday.

About three weeks ago, on April 24, a truck carrying the columns — to be used in the construction of Kaiser Permanente medical offices — made its way overnight from the Bay Area city of Hayward to Clairemont Mesa.

Meows from inside the metal column tipped DPR Construction crews to the stowaways, who were about a week old at the time.

Evan McColl’s crew found the kittens, who had been in the beam without food or water for at least two days, he said. Efforts to coax the kittens from the column with food fell short. Crews had to tip the beams to slide them out.


“We had these giant iron workers out here that became like little kids holding these tiny little kittens, wanting to look after them,” McColl said in a video interview provided by the San Diego Humane Society.

This kitten is one of five found inside a 60-foot steel column by construction workers last month. It had been on a truck driven from the Bay Area to San Diego. (Courtesy of the San Diego Humane Society)

Workers reached out to the San Diego Humane Society, which initially cared for the animals in its Kitten Nursery, to provide around-the-clock care. Video from the agency shows the kittens being bottle fed.

They are now in foster care, where they are gaining weight and doing well, the Humane Society said. They will be ready for adoption when they are 8 weeks old.


There are three males and two females. Their names are Crowbar, Rebar, Chisel, Jackhammer, and Piper.