Venice hotels arming guests with water guns to ward off seagulls

March 23 (UPI) -- Hotels in Venice, Italy, announced guests are being armed against the city's aggressive seagulls with an unusual form of protection: water guns.

The AVA, the hotelier's association for the city of Venice, said guests are being given orange water guns to ward off the city's seagulls, which are known to aggressively go after food and anything else they see as edible.

"They really work, they're also colored orange, which those birds don't like," Paolo Lorenzoni , director of the historic Gritti Hotel near the Grand Canal, told ANSA.

He said the birds are already learning to avoid anyone brandishing a water gun.

"As soon as they see the pistols, they fly away," he said. "You don't even need to use them, you just need to keep them on the table."

The AVA said it has been considering further measures to protect tourists from gulls, including the use of electrostatic and sound-based devices.