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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. ACat is fine too.
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. Vermin caught and killed in closing doors commonly leave blood and ichor behind which, if unchecked, can be tracked all over your fortress by your dwarves and other pets.
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 (believed to destroy wooden bins and barrels) |
| 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.