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40d:Vermin

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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.