Have you ever had a bird steal your food?
If so, it was probably a seagull. They’re literally the raccoons of the air. They will eat any food or garbage they find. In fact, they don’t even eat it, they just swallow everything whole like a snake.
Citizens and tourists in Venice, Italy have been dealing with a seagull epidemic for a long time. Over the years, the seagulls in Venice have gotten more hostile and aggressive, stealing food right out of people’s hands.
Italians have always been creative and ingenious people, and their solution to their seagull problem shows that.
Hotels in Venice are giving tourists free water pistols for their protection and encouraging people to shoot water at any bird that gets too belligerent.
You may be thinking, what would a short burst of water do to a seagull? It would only ward them off for a second, and they’d keep coming back to haunt your vacation.
Well, this is the really genius part. The water guns are coloured orange and red, two colours that seagulls find to be disgusting.
For one reason or another, their tiny bird brains really hate red and orange, and will do everything in their power to avoid going near an orange or red object.
So, tourists won’t have to use their water pistols too much, just the sight of them would send the gulls flying away.
A very genius move by the Italians. Checkmate, seagulls.
But gulls aren’t only a problem in Venice, the British seem to have it worse.
London, England is going through a seagull epidemic of their own. These British seagulls are even more aggressive than their Italian counterparts. Not only are they thieving food, but they’re also attacking other birds, dogs and even people.
Instead of giving away water guns, the Westminster City Council in London has employed a hawk to scare away any seagulls that are stepping out of line. The hawk is fully trained not to kill any seagulls, just spook them.
Hear that, seagulls? There’s a new sheriff in town.
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