A hotel association in Venice is making plans to ward off “aggressive and nuisance” seagulls, although some hoteliers are already taking matters into their own hands, outfitting guests with pistols to shoot water at the marauding birds.
The ubiquity of seagulls in the famous lagoon city has become increasingly problematic in recent years – a tourist recently grabbed an ice cream while walking across St. Mark’s Square.
As entertaining as the scene was for onlookers, the Venice Hoteliers’ Association finally had enough, so they organized a seminar to brainstorm ideas to discourage food thieves from outdoor catering.
“The large number of seagulls is not only an aggressive and annoying presence for people, but also poses a problem for health and hygiene, as well as for buildings and the environment,” said Francesco Boemo, hygiene and environment expert who coordinated the seminar . He added that the association must use solutions that can cruelly deter the birds. “They are actually a protected species and cannot be eradicated like mice, for example.”
Solutions such as hiring a falconer to hunt the seagulls or deterring them with a special acoustic system or unpleasant odors (however imperceptible to humans) are being discussed.
“As soon as the guests get up, for example to go to the buffet, seagulls pounce on the food and take it with them,” said a hotelier according to the seminar protocol. “We are forced to constantly intervene to change tablecloths, plates and glasses that often break. Some customers laugh about it, others get angry.”
A few hotels had tried falconers, but visiting them every day proved expensive. And so two, the Gritti Palace and the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, have now taken to providing guests with squirt guns – all orange – after being told seagulls don’t like the colour.
“As soon as they see the pistols, they fly away,” Paolo Lorenzini of the Gritti Palace told the Italian press. “You don’t even have to use them, you just have to leave them on the table.”