Dens for predators and clearings for other animals.

[Call me Arty]

   I've had some rough times combing through some fairly large maps trying to find the odd animal to butcher or to find what's been hunting my Muffalo and colonists. Especially considering how it's hard to take inventory of the species in your hex when they're scattered across the map. So, I propose that the animals of the Rim start-up dens and territories.

   For example, a Wolf will wander out, kill a Deer, take its fill, then leave. Wouldn't it make more sense if it, say, brought the corpse back to say, an area with a thin rock roof or overhead mountain (kinda plausible considering the addition of caves in A18) to share with the pack? Maybe some creatures with a little more manipulation and smarts on the herbivorous side, such as monkies and rats, would drag food back to where they could keep an eye on it, like berries or stolen crops.

   What about herbivores? While sleeping in packs would make them safer against Wargs, it would be a lot easier to find some food for your starving colony if there was an obvious, growing clearing where the grass was either eaten away or trampled down, showing where your prey may rest.
   Of course, animals would probably get defensive if some naked ape with a threatening-looking weapon walked into where the young and elderly sit around. Might not be the smartest idea.

[Bakar]

+1

I like the idea of smarter animals and it would be nice if theyhad an area wich they considered their "territory" also empty dens and clearing could be occpied again by new animals entering the map.

[Bolgfred]

Very cool idea. Really is.

Animals could build or claim sleeping spots over night. Meaning a duck builds a nest, racoons go for trees. Goat/Wolves might aim for rocks to build some kind of a den-like structure. Depending on amimal type they might settle near or far from others from its kind. When a predator catches some prey he picks it up and carries that one to its den to eat. Herbivores could gather grass to hay, berries or healing roots in small amounts.
Any camp will detoriate over time, so if an animal gets killed the camp slowly disappear or will be reoccupied if another animal of its kind.

And, if there is agroup of deers under attack, every animal should just run! By now I very don't like the fact that my raiding party going on killing spree is the most efficent way to hunt animals.

Really shy animals should run if there is anything getting closer than 10 tiles.