Eye shine
Ship Rat
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Read about eye shine clues.
Red.
Can be confused with:
Ship rat eye shine could be confused with possum or other rat species, but possums have much larger eyes.
Possum
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Possum eyes reflect back a red light.
Possums are nocturnal (only come out at night) and if you shine a torch in the trees at night you might see their large eyes reflecting a red light.
Read more about this speciesRabbit (European)
Pink/red.
Can be confused with:
Rabbit eye shine can be confused with eye shine from a possum on the ground or a large rat.
Read more about this speciesBrown hare
Hare eyes shine red if spotlit at night.
Can be confused with:
Rabbits, possums and wallaby species also have reddish eye-shine.
Read more about this speciesDama wallaby
Dama wallaby eye-shine is greenish-yellow in colour.
Can be confused with:
Dama wallaby eye-shine could be confused with eye-shine from cattle or deer and, on Kawau Island, with that of other wallaby species there.
Read more about this speciesBennett's (red-necked) wallaby
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Bennett's wallaby eyeshine.
When you point a light at a Bennett’s wallaby, the eyes have a pinkish shine, similar to other wallaby species.
Can be confused with:
Possums also have pinkish-red eye shine.
Read more about this speciesHimalayan Tahr (thar)
Eye shine appears white or green (depending on the distance viewed and strength of light).
Can be confused with:
Many deer species also have whitish eye shine but only red deer overlaps with tahr habitat. Chamois and sheep also can have whitish eye shine.
Read more about this speciesSambar deer
Yellow-silver.
Can be confused with:
The eye-shine of other deer species.
Wapiti
When shining a torch at New Zealand wapiti eyes the eye shine can be a silver blue colour, but can also be dull green, yellow or white. The exact colour can depend on the brightness and angle of the light being shone.
Can be confused with:
Many deer species have silver coloured eye shine.
Read more about this speciesPig
Pigs’ eyes reportedly do not reflect colour at night because they lack a tapetum lucidum layer inside the eye. Species lacking eye shine are usually diurnal (active during the day and sleeping at night).
Read more about this speciesHedgehog
Red eyes low to the ground
Can be confused with:
Possum on the ground
Cat
Cats with green/yellow eyes: bright green (most common). Cats with orange-brown/blue eyes: red.
Read more about this speciesStoat
Stoats can be seen at any time of the day or night. At night, if you shine a torch at them, you might see their eyes reflecting a green light.
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