Venice fights attacks on tourists by pigeons and seagulls

Cristina Cabrejas Rome, 23 Mar Water guns, falcon-shaped kites, laser pointers or the smell of garlic, the restaurateurs of Venice no longer know what to invent to put an end to one of the last concerns of a city beset by problems: the aggressions of pigeons and seagulls on tourists sitting on the terraces of cafes and restaurants. During the pandemic they seemed to have decreased, but with the resumption of tourism, seagulls reappeared hungrier than ever and even more numerous, going from the 420 couples detected before the pandemic to more than 500, local media report. The problem is so serious for a city trying to recover from the pandemic that even the Association of Hotel Companies of the City of Venice (AVA) today organized a seminar together with the company SGD Group, which deals with disinfecting to learn techniques to scare away birds that have increased considerably in recent years , the director of the association, Claudio Scarpa, explained to EFE. “Among the techniques used are electrostatic, mechanical, acoustic bollards and also discs with a strong smell of garlic - a smell that seagulls cannot bear, but which would also scare away the clientele - as well as a laser that does not bother humans, but it is not among the most used methods because it takes too much time away from the waiters who are serving the tables”, explains about the course Carlo Mazzer, from the company contacted by hoteliers, on his Facebook page. Even SGD Group has specialized in falcon training to offer this service to hoteliers. Scarpa explains that the most accepted solution among hoteliers is to join together to hire falconers with falcons to drive away seagulls, since it is the most effective method, but it will also be studied to place low-intensity electrical wires, which do not harm animals, to prevent them from landing or nesting in hotels, which are mostly buildings of great historical value. The director of AVA comments that after the pandemic, especially seagulls have become more aggressive in finding no garbage and that they attack tourists while they are eating and may even hurt them. Increasingly alarmed by the behavior of seagulls - known as “magoghe” in the Venetian dialect - some hotels have begun to “arm” themselves to end the attacks. The historic Gritti-Palace Hotel in Venice or the Monaco & Grand Canal place water guns on the tables for their guests to ward off the volatiles. In addition to the jet of water, they are all orange, after an expert informed them that birds do not like color. “As soon as they see the guns, they fly out, you don't even need to use them, you just need to have them on the table,” explained the director of the Gritti, Paolo Lorenzoni to the Venetian newspapers. From the hotel they explained to Efe that they have also hired the services of a falconer so that a specially trained falcon, as they are often used in airports, can fly over the area and keep seagulls away to prevent attacks on tourists. Guns are not the solution, according to Claudio Vernier, of the historic Bar Todaro. “They worked, but then the children played with them between months and not everyone liked this. Now I use a falcon-shaped kite and it works for seagulls, but not for pigeons,” he explains in statements to “The New Venice”. Until a few years ago in Venice there was no door-to-door waste collection as it happens today and it was a paradise for seagulls who found plenty of food without difficulty. Now, hungry, they are throwing themselves at the tourists. CHIEF ccg/mj/mj (Archive resources www.lafototeca.com: reference code: 13252037 and others)