A hotel association in Venice is hatching plans to fend off “aggressive and annoying” gulls, although some hoteliers are already taking matters into their own hands by equipping guests with pistols to shoot water at the marauding birds. The omnipresence of gulls in the famous lagoon city has become increasingly problematic over the last few years – one recently snatched an ice-cream from a tourist as she walked across St Mark’s Square. Entertaining though the scene was for onlookers, the Venice hoteliers’ association has finally had enough, and so organised a seminar to come up with ideas to deter the food snatchers from outside dining areas. “The huge number seagulls, in addition to being an aggressive and annoying presence for people, represent a problem for health and hygiene, as well as for buildings and the environment,” said Francesco Boemo, a hygiene and environment expert who coordinated the seminar, adding that the association must use solutions that can deter the birds in an uncruel way. “They are, in fact, a protected species and cannot be eliminated, as is done, for example, with mice.” Solutions discussed include hiring a falconer to hunt the gulls or deterring them with a special acoustic system or unpleasant odours (albeit ones that cannot be perceived by human beings). “As soon as guests get up, perhaps to go to the buffet, seagulls pounce on the food and take it away,” one hotelier said, according to the minutes of the seminar. “We are forced to intervene continuously to change tablecloths, plates and glasses, which they often break. Some customers laugh about it, but others get angry.” Some hotels had tried falconers, but calling upon them every day proved to be expensive. And so two, the Gritti Palace and Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, have now resorted to equipping guests with water pistols – all orange – after being told that gulls dislike 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 need to use them, you just need to keep them on the table.”