Making an enquiry

You are welcome to visit us and use the resources in search & discover to answer enquiries or you can contact us via phone, fax, email or post.

When you contact us for help it is useful if you include as much information as possible about your enquiry.

Identifications
Information

Identifications

Describe the size, shape, and colour of the animal or object as accurately as you can (eg 'the body is the size of a 5c piece, and is oval in shape, black in colour with a red stripe at the back end of the body. It has eight legs, which are black...) A drawing or photograph can help a lot.

Where was the specimen found? Did you find it in the house or garden? On the wall or floor? Give suburb or location and habitat if possible.
Was it alone, in a pair or in a group? What was it doing?
If it is a spider, was there a web associated with it? Have you seen burrows?
Did you see it during the day or at night?
Is there anything else specific that you can say about it?

Information

Black Rat. Photo: Allan Young/Nature Focus

Be specific about the information you require. Tell us why you need the information, as this will help us identify how much detail you require, (eg Year 6 assignment, university assignment, concerns about health and safety, simple curiosity, for a bet or debate, etc.) We will not do your assignments for you, but we will help you locate resources that you can use for your research.

An example of an enquiry with lots of detail is:

This mammal is living in our backyard in Putney. It was seen out during the day on the weekend and didn't appear very shy. I was able to get within 2m to take photos. I have enclosed copies. There might be more than one animal. Something is climbing onto our verandah at night and eating cumquats. Any help you can offer in identifying would be appreciated.

Notable features:
Approx 12 - 15 cm body length with a furless tail longer than body
Living in a 'burrow' which is a small hollow covered with rocks in the corner of the yard
Has a kind of hop motion
Sits on hind legs to clean front paws
Grey in colour, long fur
Snout is quite short
Loves cumquats and mandarins and seen eating during the day.

Answer: Probably a Black Rat

An example of an enquiry without enough detail is:

I've heard an animal in our garden at night. I don't know what it eats and I haven't seen any droppings. What could it be?

Answer: We need more information to answer this one. Keep an eye out for it to learn more about its habits and appearance.