40d Talk:Giant cave swallow

I've had a giant cave swallow kill one of my haulers recently, so what exactly does "this creature won't attack unless threatened" mean? Does it already feel threatened when a dwarf comes too close?

There was no military dwarf anywhere close, and I have no hunters. So the giant cave swallow must have attacked first. _{-Unsigned by Syndic}

It means somebody spotted their [BENIGN] tag and assumed it was peaceful/neutral/cowardly when it is quite certainly aggro/aggressive/hostile.

Sorry for any dwarves who might've gotten their eyes removed by the little flying, feathered jerks. ~ Midna 03:34, 5 December 2008 (EST)

Yeah these guys have taken out 30+ hauling dwarfs on my current fortress, the fact that they fly has meant that nobody really bothers them unless they're injured and on the ground, these monsters are a force to be reckoned with.

In Dwarf Fortress, "threatened" means "cornered" or otherwise in a situation where it believes that it cannot flee (such as carp swimming in a murky pool) - once a creature has killed one dwarf, it becomes an enemy of your civilization and will attack without provocation. --Quietust 19:25, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Z-Level issue

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if this was an isolated situation but I had a Giant Cave Swallow attack and kill a Donkey. In retaliation, I sent a Woodcutter and two squads of two Wrestlers after it. After engaging, only one Dwarf would be attacking, despite the Giant Cave Swallow being on the same Z-Level. I attributed it to some sort of flight mechanic (allowing the Swallow to engage its own targets rather than being bumrushed). However, despite being stunned and unconscious at some points; it was only truly engaged by one Dwarf at a time. I had even assigned two war dogs to the Woodcutter (whom was slaughtered) and they wouldn't engage it either.

I haven't had much experience with flying creatures so I'm not sure if this is a regular occurrence or some form of bug (or feature, re: Fun). Any others mind verifying this one way or another? Perhaps updating flying creatures (if attributable to Flying and not just Giant Cave Swallows) pages with warnings.--DracoG 04:06, 4 May 2009 (UTC)