# Animals getting caught in plastic 6-pack rings-true or urban legend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596 "2006-11-24T00:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/1 "2006-11-24T00:34:08Z")
So I was helping myself to a can of ginger ale earlier today and as I pulled it out of the plastic ring thingy, I got to wondering-is it REALLY true that animals get caught in them? I always make sure to cut them up before tossing them-because I’m a big softy when it comes to animals and I’d hate to think of some poor little duck getting caught in one of them. Also, it takes up less room in the trash can. But is that true, or just an urban legend that someone started? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/2 "2006-11-24T00:43:41Z")
[The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990716.html)… ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Reginald_Bumwipe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/3 "2006-11-24T00:44:13Z")
It’s true. A lot of marine life gets caught in six-pack rings either by trying to swim through them and getting caught partway, or getting their appendages tangled in them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/4 "2006-11-24T00:45:47Z")
To elaborate, and so nobody absolutely MUST follow the link: Yes, they can be dangerous to wildlife. But no, you don’t really have to cut them up, as they actually are responsible for a MUCH smaller number of wildlife injuries and deaths than most people think they are. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Reginald_Bumwipe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/5 "2006-11-24T00:46:31Z")
I didn’t see the Cecil article before I posted. The effect of six-pack rings may be small compared to discarded fishing nets and lines, but to save a few hundred animals it’s still worth it to cut them up. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/6 "2006-11-24T00:55:46Z")
Yeah, like I said, even if it’s just one animal, really, I’m SUCH a sucker for animals that I can’t bring myself not to do it. And, as I also said, it takes up less room in the trash can. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/7 "2006-11-24T01:00:28Z")
I think you all are missing a rather large point. Unless you’re plannig to drop the rings on the beach after you’ve cut it up, rather than throwing it in the trash, I’m not sure I see anything much being accomplished. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@Sir\_Reginald\_Bumwipe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Reginald_Bumwipe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/8 "2006-11-24T01:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I think you all are missing a rather large point. Unless you’re plannig to drop the rings on the beach after you’ve cut it up, rather than throwing it in the trash, I’m not sure I see anything much being accomplished. [/QUOTE] Because I’m sure most people are able to ensure that every item they discard ends up in a controlled landfill. Do you have any idea how much garbage ends up in the ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/9 "2006-11-24T02:01:42Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Yeah, like I said, even if it’s just one animal, really, I’m SUCH a sucker for animals that I can’t bring myself not to do it. And, as I also said, it takes up less room in the trash can. [/QUOTE] Good for you Guinastasia! I feel exactly the same way. In fact, I’ve even given up buying six packs of _ahem_ _ginger ale_, and now only buy it in bottles, and by the case, for the sake of the environment don’t you know. seriously: thumbs up for you! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/10 "2006-11-24T02:44:49Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Reginald Bumwipe] Do you have any idea how much garbage ends up in the ocean? [/QUOTE] No, I don’t. How much? ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mrs\_Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/11 "2006-11-24T04:28:05Z")
Whether a lot or a little ends up in the ocean, I should think the point is that once the plastic is out of your hands, it could end up in water. One precaution I take on behalf pf wildlife, stray dogs, cats etc, is when I cook a roast, I cut the string up into pieces no longer than an inch or so. Then if something eats them, they won’t get the string wound up in their gut. Very painful way to die, I hear. Mrs Cake ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/12 "2006-11-24T04:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs Cake] Whether a lot or a little ends up in the ocean, I should think the point is that once the plastic is out of your hands, it could end up in water [/QUOTE] How does it get to the ocean? From Ohio? ---
**Author:** ![seenidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@seenidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seenidog)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/13 "2006-11-24T04:51:39Z")
Well it might not make a difference in the big picture, but why not cut them up because it takes little time and feels right. By the way I do not know where my trash ends up normally, but when my house burned down a few years ago, had to have the old stuff hauled away before building new, and had to pay for it to be hauled to a certified landfill to handle waste than might have asbestos in it. It is somewhere in Iowa. I live in Wisconsin. 27.74 tons trucked out. It cost me more to have the burned out stuff to be trucked out than it did to have a new foundation poured. I am not complaining, the insurance company was kind to me. But really, after the trucks left my lot, do I really know where it ended up? No. and the Mississippi river is only a few miles away, and between here and where the stuff was supposed to go. You hire a state certified contractor to do the job right and hope they did. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/14 "2006-11-24T07:50:25Z")
I once saw a seagull with a plastic six-pack ring thingy wound around its head. The plastic was stuck in the bird’s mouth in such a way that it couldn’t eat. I tried to catch the bird but failed, and finally gave up and called animal control. The bird may have died of starvation. These plastic doohickeys can cause harm even if they don’t get into the water. Seagulls love dumps, for example, and it wouldn’t surprise me if gulls got caught in six-pack rings there. They could be a hazard for any trash-picking animal. I always cut up the rings. It takes little effort on my part, and might do some good, so why not? ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/15 "2006-11-24T08:48:13Z")
We also found a seagull with one of the rings round its neck, and its beak twisted up and jammed down into one of the other rings. It was in a very bad way, and my mother and I caught the bird by getting a sheet from our washing line and chucking it over the bird, then my mother held onto the seagull while I cut the rings off. Was it grateful? No! Pecked the hell out of me while we were trying to disentangle it from the sheet - those things are big and scary close up! But yes, whether or not you actually chuck your rubbish on the beach, which I am sure you do not, to prevent any rubbish you do produce from doing future damage can only be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/16 "2006-11-24T09:13:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hokkaido Brit] Was it grateful? No! Pecked the hell out of me while we were trying to disentangle it from the sheet - those things are big and scary close up! [/QUOTE] Greater love for animals hath no man than this, that a man nearly lays down his life to save a bloody 'orrible vicious scavenging seagull from a miserable death. You are a braver man than I - I wouldn’t go near one of those turkey-sized herring gulls for love or money. Ring-packs, plastic bags, tin cans - pretty much any durable packaging that gets out into the general environment can lead to a miserable lingering death for hapless animals. Be tidy and choose biodegradeable where possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/17 "2006-11-24T09:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=slaphead] Greater love for animals hath no man than this, that a man nearly lays down his life to save a bloody 'orrible vicious scavenging seagull from a miserable death. You are a braver man than I - I wouldn’t go near one of those turkey-sized herring gulls for love or money. [/QUOTE] Well, I was about 15 and softhearted - though if I saw such a distressing sight again I would have to try to help even now. It was flapping up and down on the green outside our house, so it was pretty much unavoidable. I had seen them all over the place since childhood but never realised how enormous (and strong!) they are until that day. The beak was really big and strong, quite capable of snapping off a finger once it was free of the rings. Having lived on an island I have seen a huge amount of wildlife damage due to rubbish or pollution and it is horrible to see up close. If you make sure as far as you can that your rubbish never is responsible for such a horrible end of (bed tempered and dangerous!) animals, then that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/18 "2006-11-24T14:31:40Z")
I’ve also seen a ring around a squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/19 "2006-11-24T15:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] I’ve also seen a ring around a squirrel. [/QUOTE] That was what I figured-that even if they don’t end up in the ocean, you still might get some local animals who get into your trash (raccoons and such) and end up getting hurt. Thanks, people. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596/20 "2006-11-24T15:55:40Z")
I’ve seen a young California Sea Lion with one on its neck, girdling it so that flaps of bloody skin were hanging down. Pretty gross. I don’t imagine it’s common, but yes, it does happen. - Tamerlane [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-getting-caught-in-plastic-6-pack-rings-true-or-urban-legend/381596.md?page=2)