The question of whether fur can ever be an ethically sound fashion choice is one animal-rights activists effectively silence with a resounding “no.” But not all fur is created equally—on the other end of the spectrum of expensive, farmed fur is fur made from invasive species, wild animals, and roadkill, as well as vintage or repurposed material. Each type offers a compelling argument for viewing the fur-or-no-fur debate in shades of gray.

Just as some meat comes from wild animals—think venison or quail—so does some fur. Wild fur is less expensive than farmed fur, as the quality is difficult to control—a life (and death) in the wild can lead to scratches and irregularities in the animal’s coat. But some might prefer to wear the pelt of an animal whose days were spent frolicking in the woods over one that was raised in a cage.

The International Fur Trade Federation found that around 15 percent of fur comes from wild animals such as beavers, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and muskrats, as opposed to farmed. Labels often don’t specify if a piece is made from wild fur, but for those after free-range fur, the best bet is to look for skins of animals from Canada, the USA, and Russia, where most wild pelts come from. Many North Americans are already supporting the wild-fur trade: It’s wild-coyote fur that lines the hoods of those Canada Goose parkas currently stampeding New York City’s sidewalks.

Just as eating invasive fish has become a priority among environmentalists in the food world, using the fur of invasive animals could be a good way to make use of animals killed to protect fragile ecosystems. For a species to be considered invasive, it must be harmful to the environment and be non-native. In the coastal United States, the nutria—a large, semi-aquatic rodent with webbed feet, long tails, and carrot-colored teeth—is both.

A nutria (Roland Weihrauch/AP)

Since the 1930s, nutrias (originally from South America) have been gobbling up the wetlands of coastal Louisiana, contributing to land loss that approaches 25 square miles per year, along with billions of dollars. The rodents, originally imported by fur farmers, chomp on marsh plants at their bases, killing their roots. An area approximately the size of Delaware has already disappeared into the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1990s, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries created an incentive program: They would pay registered hunters and trappers $4 for each nutria they killed. (The price has since been raised to $5.)

“I didn’t get into invasive-species management to kill animals,” said Michael Massimi, the invasive species coordinator for the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, a conservation coalition administered by the Environmental Protective Agency. “I’m an animal-rights advocate. But the damage they’re doing is existential."