Body covering
Small traces of fur or hair may be difficult to identify by eye. If this is the case and you need to know the source, DNA testing may be helpful. In New Zealand, EcoGene Services provide this service.
Plague (rainbow) skink
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Read about pest body covering clues.
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Plague skink have a single large head scale.
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Diagram of the differences in head scale on native (left) and plague (right) skink heads.
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Plague skink with iridescent shine on the body.
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Plague skink (left) and native copper skink (right).
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A juvenile plague skink (top) and a juvenile copper skink (bottom).
Plague skinks are covered in scales. They have one large scale on the top of their head, directly between the eye sockets, known as a fronto-parietal head scale. It is the most important factor in distinguishing plague skinks from New Zealand native skinks, which have two smaller scales instead. In the plague skink it is a single scale, shaped like a diamond. In all New Zealand native skinks, it is in two parts, which together look a little like an upside-down heart.
Plague skinks (Lampropholis delicata) were originally named the ‘rainbow skink’ in New Zealand due to the rainbow-coloured sheen that the scales of some adults display at certain angles; however, that name is now reserved for an African species of skink.
Can be confused with:
Plague skinks can look similar to some native skinks, especially copper skinks, in colouring, body shape and size. The difference in fronto-parietal head scale is the most reliable distinguishing feature (see above and right) but can be difficult to see clearly on such small animals. The following additional differences between adult copper and plague skinks, though subtle, can be useful.
| Copper skink (Adult) | Plague skink (Adult) | |
| Main body colour | Warm coppery brown or dark chocolate brown, no rainbow hues | Greyish brown hues, rainbow sheen in some adult individuals |
| Belly colour and pattern |
Yellow to yellow-green, usually speckled (sometimes quite heavily) | Often smooth cream or grey. Throat sometimes speckled but not the belly. |
| Lip markings | More distinct, noticeable | Less noticeable |
| Body shape | Less slender | More slender |
Read more about this species
Mouse
Soft brown fur.
Can be confused with:
Other rodent species, although mouse fur will be the shortest of them all.
Read more about this speciesShip Rat
Ship rat fur is brown or black on the back and brown, white or black on the belly. Ship rats have three major genetically determined colour morphs that vary in prevalence around New Zealand.
Can be confused with:
Other rat species – Norway rat and kiore (Pacific rat) – may be confused with ship rat. Stoats or weasels could also be confused with ship rats if they are moving quickly.
Norway rat
Norway rats have coarse grey-brown, grey or black fur.
Can be confused with:
The fur of Norway rat is similar to that of other rat species.
Possum
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Possum fur.
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Possum fur close up.
When possums fight with each other they will leave tufts of hair behind. Possum fur is very soft and luxurious (the reason why they were introduced into NZ). In colour it is grey or dark brown on the head, back and tail and white or dirty yellow on the belly. However, possums come in grey and dark forms and there also are occasional albino animals. The fur is about 4-6 cm in length with a dense cushioned undercoat. The possum fur is much prized because it doesn't shed and is anti-static. The hair has a hollow structure which helps to store heat (it is the third warmest fur in the world) and is combined with merino wool to make a fibre that is used for making clothes.
Read more about this speciesRabbit (European)
Rabbit fur is grey-brown in colour, with white fur on the underside of the body and on the tail. The fur is very soft to the touch.
Female (doe) rabbits pluck their fur to line their nests. Traces of rabbit fur may, therefore, lead to burrows containing young ones.
Jack-Powell-re-rabbit-fur-clue.mp3
Listen to Jack Powell, long-time rabbiter and animal pest control officer, describe the way female rabbits leave tell-tale traces of fur. Audio clip courtesy New Zealand Biosecurity Institute Oral History Project.
Read more about this speciesBrown hare
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Brown hare fur, close-up, preferably of field example.
You may find hare fur in a ‘form’ or caught on twigs. TheEuropean hare has a flecked fur made up of mainly tan, black and white hairs but also including ruddy brown or grey on the shoulders and back and white on the underside. The fur is soft to the touch.
In colder areas hares may grow a winter coat that is denser and thicker than the summer coat but the coloration is similar. The white undercoat is usually from 8 to 14 mm thick. The coarser guard hairs are up to 35 mm long and coloured dark-brown or black but with red or yellowish-brown tips.
Can be confused with:
Rabbits have similar coloured, soft fur but they often have a denser undercoat (more hairs per follicle) and longer guard hairs. Possum fur is usually darker in colour with guard hairs that are 20 to 40 mm long and brown in colour with black tips. Hair from deer species and goat can be similar in colour but is usually much coarser, longer and stiffer than hare fur.
Read more about this speciesDama wallaby
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Dama wallaby - close-up fur, especially traces found in the field.
Dama wallaby fur is mostly grey-brown, paler in the abdomen and chest areas, with rufous (reddish) shoulders.
Can be confused with:
Dama wallaby fur found in the field could be confused with that of other introduced wallaby species where their distributions overlap (i.e. on Kawau Island), and with the fur of some other mammal species. Wallaby fur should be easily distinguishable from the coarse guard hairs of deer, which have a comparatively large diameter.
Read more about this speciesBennett's (red-necked) wallaby
Bennett’s wallabies have shaggy grey-brown fur that is rufous (red)-coloured over the shoulders, and paler on its chest and belly.
Read more about this speciesGoat
Feral goats are usually short-haired with variable amounts of underfur (cashmere fleece, ‘pashmina’). Some populations of angora origin have longer coats.
Can be confused with:
Fur caught on a fence or in vegetation could potentially be confused with sheep’s wool, especially for angora goat types.
Chamois
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Chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra.
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Chamois fur / hair needed, preferably as encountered in the field
You may find tufts of chamois fur in spring when chamois shed their winter coat. The hair is soft and up to 50 mm in length, the hair shafts straight, and only the fine fur fibres are moderately curled. The underfur layer is not readily distinguished. Male chamois also have long (100-150 mm) stiff hairs along the middle of the back, the tips of which have a silver sheen.
In summer, chamois fur is short and mostly fawn, with a dark brown band extending from the nose, over the eyes to the base of the horns (almost mask-like in appearance). A dark stripe also extends along the nape of the neck, while the throat and lower jaw are white. In winter, chamois fur is thicker and a darker brown, almost black. Males often have a prominent mane and dorsal stripe.
Chamois horns are distinctive. They are black and arise directly from the top of the head for 50-80 mm, curving backwards to form hooks. Male horns are about 170–280 mm long; female horns often shorter at around 184-215 mm long.
Can be confused with:
If an animal is not clearly visible, a chamois could possibly be confused with tahr or goats. Tahr have much thicker longer hair, and look more shaggy than chamois. Bull tahr have a mane during summer and both male and female tahr lack the dark face patterning that chamois has. Compared to chamois, goats have shorter legs, hold their necks more horizontal, and have more rounded ears. Goats do not have the chamois’ dark contrasting stripes on the face and neck and goat’s horns generally curve more sideways away from head rather than backwards. The black, slender horns of chamois are unlikely to be confused with other species.
Read more about this speciesHimalayan Tahr (thar)
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Himalayan tahr are in demand by trophy hunters.
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Himalayan tahr showing characteristic horns.
Tahr shed a lot of fur in spring, as temperatures rise, and their coats become lighter in colour. Males (bulls) have a black face, distinctive shaggy mane, with black to reddish brown fur in winter. In summer, the bull’s coat is straw coloured and the mane much reduced in size. Females, have a lighter face (except for a dark muzzle), are grey-brown in winter, and straw coloured in summer. The fur of juveniles is straw coloured on the body and black on the legs. During the winter tahr have a thick woolly coat and dense underfur. The coat is much less dense during summer.
Himalayan tahr have short horns (males longer and heavier than females), flattened sideways and curved sharply backwards.
Can be confused with:
Nannies and kids are less distinctive than males and can resemble chamois at a distance or if the larger bull is not currently with the herd.
Read more about this speciesFallow deer
Fallow deer fur colour ranges from black to brown to white and all shades in between.
Can be confused with:
Fallow deer fur can appear similar to the fur of other deer species.
Sika deer
Sometimes sika deer hair can be found where the deer have been rubbing against a tree
Can be confused with:
The fur of other deer species could be confused with sika deer fur.
Rusa (Javan) deer
Male rusa deer (stag) have a reddish-brown coat during the summer changing to dark greyish-brown during the winter. Female (hind) coats are a pale yellowish-red in summer and greyish-red during the winter. The chin, throat and underparts are cream in colour. Fawns are paler in colour, with a white chin, throat and underparts. The texture of the coat is coarse, except on the underparts. The individual hairs are flat, crimped and banded towards the tips.
Can be confused with:
Rusa deer fur can be confused with the fur of other deer species if the distribution overlaps (red deer and sambar deer are common in the same areas as rusa deer).
White-tailed deer
Sometimes hair may get left behind when a stag has been rubbing and thrashing trees and when they rub against trees to remove moulting hair.
Can be confused with:
The hair of other deer species may be confused with white-tailed deer hair.
Sambar deer
Hair can be snagged on branches and shrubs at any time of the year, and may be particularly common when the animals are moulting. During the breeding season (rut) stags will leave muddy hair on the tip of tree branches and shrubs they have been thrashing against.
Can be confused with:
Sambar deer hair can be confused with hair from other deer species, particularly where their ranges overlap.
Red deer
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Red deer fur, showing outer coat.
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Red deer fur, showing inner coat.
Sometimes deer hair can be found where they have been rubbing against a tree, and on the ground in bedding areas and caught in barbed wire cattle fences where they have ben crossing into paddocks.
Can be confused with:
The fur of red deer could be confused with the fur of other deer species.
Wapiti
Sometimes deer leave hair where they have been rubbing against a tree and on the ground in bedding areas. Pure-bred wapiti hair is coloured in various shades of fawn.
Can be confused with:
The fur of other deer species, especially red deer with which they have hybridised. There are also seasonal differences in the colour of coats.
Read more about this speciesPig
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Feral pig fur close up.
Feral pig hair is longer and coarser than that of domestic pigs. Places where traces might be found include: on trees where a pig has been rubbing its rump; where pigs have forced their way under fences; or embedded in the mud where a pig has been wallowing. Black is the most common colour, but other colour variations include rusty red to ginger, brown with black spots, brown and white, white with or without a black stripe, grey and smoky blue (the latter colour is common in North Canterbury).
Read more about this speciesHedgehog
Each spine is a single modified hair about 20-25 mm long. The spines are creamy white, darkening to grey-brown at the base, with a broad dark bank just below the sharp point. The belly fur is coarse grey to pale brown hair with various patterns and mottles.
Can be confused with:
Nothing else like it in New Zealand.
Cat
Most cats have two layers of fur. On top is the hair that is responsible for the colour and pattern. The bottom layer is responsible for the insulation. Individual fibres are often thin and crinkled along the entire length.
Read more about this speciesWeasel
Weasels have brown fur on the top of the body, and a brown face and tail. They have white or yellow fur on the underside. The line separating the brown and white fur is often wavy and less distinct than on a stoat. There may even be some brown spots on the belly. Winter whitening (like stoats in colder parts of New Zealand) is practically unknown in New Zealand.
Can be confused with:
A stoat looks similar to a weasel, but has a black tail-tip and the definition between brown fur and white or yellow belly fur is much more linear.
Read more about this speciesStoat
Stoat fur is short and chestnut brown if from the head and back, or white to yellow if from the belly. During the winter, in cold climates (e.g. above 800 m a.s.l. in the Southern Alps), the fur is white except for the black tail tip. The white fur from a stoat is called ermine. Fur is not a commonly found stoat field sign but can be found at den sites.
Read more about this speciesFerret
Ferrets have a short, woolly undercoat that is creamy-white to yellow, covered with dark guard hairs. The tail is uniformly dark and the face has a black mask.
Read more about this speciesRainbow lorikeet
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Rainbow lorikeet feather, both sides.
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Rainbow lorikeet feather.
Rainbow lorikeets have brightly coloured feathers. The bright blue head is unlike that of any other bird species present in the wild in New Zealand.
Can be confused with:
Eastern rosella feathers have similar colours but rainbow lorikeet have more colourful feathers and a bright blue head.
The bright plumage of the rainbow lorikeet is unlikely to be confused with indigenous members of the parrot family, such as the indigenous kākāriki (red-crowned parakeet), yellow-crowned parakeet, orange-fronted parakeet, Forbes' parakeet, Antipodes Island parakeet and Reischek's parakeet, and introduced species such as the rose-ringed parakeet, crimson rosella and eastern rosella. To see photographs of the other species, see the New Zealand Birds Online website.
Read more about this speciesAustralian magpie
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An Australian magpie, showing the distinctive black and white plumage.
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A white-backed Australian magpie, showing arrangment of plumage.
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Australian magpie flight feather.
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An Australian magpie in flight.
The Australian magpie has distinctive black and white plumage.
Can be confused with:
Other medium sized, black-feathered bird species in New Zealand, such as the rook, or pūkeko. However, the rook is all black and has a more limited distribution, mainly in southeast North Island, while the pūkeko has a breast that is deep blue/violet and a red bill, and is almost three times larger than a magpie.
Magpies in trees are sometimes mistaken for kereru, especially when seen in silhouette, but notable differences are the longer magpie’s bill and the kereru's white belly.
Read more about this speciesRook
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Rook feather - close-up photo needed
Rooks have glossy black feathers with a purple or green sheen.
Can be confused with:
Tūī also have glossy black feathers with a purple or green sheen. Rook feathers will mostly be larger than tūī feathers. A black feather found on pasture could belong to a variety of bird species. Reportedly people can confuse variable oystercatcher and flying black shags for a rook.
Read more about this speciesCanada goose
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A Canada goose feather.
Feathers can often be found where Canada geese occur; in abundance at some locations during moulting season. Feathers may be downy white (body), un-patterned brown (wing and tail) or dark brown (head). Feathers can be up to 360 mm long. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has some photos of Canada goose feathers in their feather identification catalogue.
Can be confused with:
The feathers of Canada goose can be confused with the feathers of other waterfowl species, especially other goose species.
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