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 actual use in the game.^{v0.27.176.38c}

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. Extracts are presently useless except for trade.^{v0.27.176.38c} Vermin with no "value" are not capturable (except, perhaps, by elves).

All biomes

Name	Value	Notes
Toad	10	Spawns in pools, amphibious
Turtle	10	Spawns in pools, amphibious, fishable, has shell
Fly	n/a	Found in swarms, flier, rots food
Large roach	5	Eats food, sometimes nests in groups
Beetle	n/a
Ant	n/a	Forms colonies on soil
Monarch butterfly	1	Flier
Firefly	1	Flier, glows
Dragonfly	1	Flier
Lizard	10	Eats food, (carnivore)
Rat	10	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups

Limited biomes

Name	Biomes	Value	Notes
Worm	Taiga forest, Temperate, Tropical	n/a	Found on soil (shows as ~ )
Blue jay	Various temperate	30	Bird
Cardinal	Various temperate	30	Bird
Grackle	Temperate grassland and savanna	30	Bird
Oriole	Temperate broadleaf forest	30	Bird
Red-winged blackbird	Temperate marsh	30	Bird
Hedgehog	Temperate forest	10
Chipmunk	Temperate forest	10
Gray squirrel	Temperate forest	10
Red squirrel	Temperate forest	10
Fox squirrel	Savage temperate forest	100
Demon rat	Any evil	20	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups, exotic pet
Fluffy wambler	Any good	20	Eats food ("gnawed"), sometimes nests in groups, exotic pet
Two-legged rhino lizard	Any savage	20	Eats food ("gnawed"), exotic pet
Knuckle worm	Any evil	100	Rots food, exotic pet
Phantom spider	Any evil forest	n/a	Makes webs, bites to inject paralyzing venom, extracts are venom and antivenin, carnivore
Acorn fly	Any savage	n/a	Found in swarms, flier, rots food
Blood gnat	Any evil	n/a	Found in swarms, flier, rots food
Moghopper	Any savage	20	Spawns in pools, amphibious, fishable, summer only, extract is mog juice
Fairy	Main good	10	Flier, glows
Pixie	Main good	n/a	Found in swarms, flier, glows
Cave spider	Subterranean water and chasm	n/a	Makes webs, bites to inject intermittently stunning venom, extracts are venom and antivenin, carnivore
Fire snake	Subterranean lava	1	Exotic pet, extract is liquid fire (sets things on fire)
Olm	Subterranean water	1	Exotic pet
Bat	Subterranean chasm	30	Flier, sometimes nests in large groups
Purring maggot	Subterranean chasm	*	Exotic pet, immobile, milkable for dwarven milk extract, (shows as alternating { and } )
Cave swallow	Temperate broadleaf forest, subterranean	30	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.