40d:Vermin

Vermin are small creatures such as rats, bats, and lizards which are difficult to see. Most maps with a temperature above freezing have hundreds or thousands of vermin. The presence of vermin can be noted if you are particularly observant, as they will occasionally blink into and out of view on the screen. They are "mostly harmless".

Risks

Vermin are primarily notable for their ability to accost dwarves, whether by triggering deeply-buried childhood traumas or just by being annoying. Most dwarves will have thoughts related to a type of vermin they really dislike, and will suffer a significant mood penalty any time they spot the vermin they hate. This mood penalty can render content dwarves unhappy, although the penalty can be offset by otherwise good living conditions.

Some vermin will also eat any food in stockpiles they can manage to get a hold on, causing wear on that food. Food that has been protected in barrels will be immune, but food that is exposed will be nibbled at and will eventually wear out and be destroyed. Some particularly tenacious vermin, such as lizards, can work their way through weak containers; metal barrels are over ten times more effective at keeping your food safe. Having cats will keep vermin to a minimum, thus keeping your food safe.

Catching vermin

Small animal traps are designed specifically to catch and hold vermin. A catch a live land animal order issued at a kennel tells a trapper to seek out and catch a vermin animal inside one of these traps. The animal will then be brought to an animal stockpile.

Vermin can be tamed by anyone with the animal training labour preference at a kennel. Tame vermin can then be offered for claiming as pets on the z Status screen under the Animals submenu. However, tame vermin will only be claimed by those dwarves who admire those vermin.

Meat group

Stray, untamed vermin that are caught in animal traps are edible, and will be eaten live as exotic cuisine by some people whose preferences swing that way.

People who are starving will also attempt to find and eat vermin, but if they do not have a preference for that vermin as a food type, they will receive a bad thought from doing so. In a fortress with cats, it may be difficult or impossible for the dwarves to find enough vermin to survive starvation, as even a small number of cats are ruthlessly effective at controlling the vermin population. If they are not pets, it may be best to just butcher the cats for food.

Extracts from vermin

Certain vermin, such as the fire snake, can be used to make extracts. At present, most extracts have no use in the game other than trade goods.

Eliminating vermin

Cats are chiefly useful for their ability to hunt down and kill vermin. Cats will wander around the fortress and surrounding lands killing vermin. As animals do not presently eat, this is done only for sport.^{v0.28.181.40d} This reduces or eliminates the possibility of dwarves receiving bad thoughts for being accosted by vermin—dead vermin do not bother any dwarf—but exposes a risk that a rotting rat or other larger vermin will release a cloud of miasma and upset any dwarves who pass through the cloud.

Another method of controlling vermin is by building animal traps and periodically catching vermin with trappers to be consumed in some fashion. The trapped vermin may be used for a variety of purposes, including being eaten, tamed, or made into extracts, or can be relocated to a cage so that the trap may be used again.

List of vermin

Most catchable fish are technically considered "vermin" by the game, see the fish article for a complete list. Many vermin do not show up in winter. Vermin with no "value" are not capturable (except, perhaps, by elves). Hateable vermin can accost dwarves and thus make a poor choice for placement in a zoo.

Name	Value	Biome	Notes
Toad	10	All	Spawns in pools, amphibious, hateable
Turtle	10	All	Spawns in pools, amphibious, fishable, has shell
Fly	n/a	All	Found in swarms, flier, rots food, hateable
Large roach	5	All	Eats food, sometimes nests in groups, hateable
Beetle	n/a	All
Ant	n/a	All	Forms colonies in soil
Monarch butterfly	1	All	Flier
Firefly	1	All	Flier, glows
Dragonfly	1	All	Flier
Lizard	10	All	Eats food (carnivore), hateable
Rat	10	All	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups, hateable
Worm	n/a	Temperate, Taiga, Tropical, Forest	Found in soil, hateable
Blue jay	30	Temperate	Flier
Cardinal	30	Temperate	Flier
Grackle	30	Temperate grasslands and savanna	Flier
Oriole	30	Temperate broadleaf forest	Flier
Red-winged blackbird	30	Temperate marsh	Flier
Hedgehog	10	Temperate forest
Chipmunk	10	Temperate forest
Gray squirrel	10	Temperate forest
Red squirrel	10	Temperate forest
Fox squirrel	100	Savage temperate forest
Demon rat	20	Evil	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups, exotic pet
Fluffy wambler	20	Good	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups, exotic pet
Two-legged rhino lizard	20	Savage	Eats food ("gnawed"), exotic pet
Knuckle worm	100	Evil	Rots food, exotic pet
Phantom spider	n/a	Evil forest	Makes webs, bites to inject paralyzing venom, extracts are venom and antivenin, carnivore
Acorn fly	n/a	Savage	Rots food, found in swarms, flier
Blood gnat	n/a	Evil	Rots food, exotic pet
Moghopper	20	Savage	Spawns in pools, amphibious, fishable, summer only, extract is mog juice
Fairy	10	Good	Flier, glows
Pixie	n/a	Good	Found in swarms, flier, glows
Cave spider	n/a	subterranean water and chasms	Makes webs, bites to inject stunning venom, extracts are venom and antivenin, carnivore, hateable
Fire snake	1	Magma	Exotic pet, extract is liquid fire, hateable
Olm	1	Subterranean water	Exotic pet
Bat	30	Subterranean chasm	Flier, sometimes nests in large groups, hateable
Purring maggot	*	Subterranean chasm	Exotic pet, immobile, milkable for dwarven milk extract, hateable
Bat	30	Subterranean, temperate broadleaf forest	Exotic pet

* These are theoretically trappable and tameable, but have no [PETVALUE] defined. Their value might be based on their [MODVALUE]. Please verify their value when captured.