Hunting

Cats and dogs in The Sims 3: Pets have one skill of their very own, called hunting. Cats can hunt for minor pets (rodents, reptiles, birds, etc) and beetles. Dogs can "sniff out collectables" to pick up rocks, metals, gems, and "special" fragmented collectables.

Both cats and dogs can "fail" at hunting and pick up worthless junk, usually (shed) snake skins, feathers, maple leaves, and chip bags.

Pets must learn the hunting skill before they can hunt out in the world. Cats learn the skill by "practicing" on a toy from the pet toy box, and dogs are taught by their Sims. Cats and dogs can continue to gain hunting skill points in this manner up through level 10.

The Skill Journal for pets is like that of normal Sims, with the exception of pets only having one skill.

After the pet gains some amount of hunting prowess, s/he can be ordered by a Sim to gather specific collectables (such as "rocks", "gems", "rodents" or "reptiles"). This is similar to pets hunting on their own, though pets sent out to hunt will try to present their finds to the Sims that sent them out.

While dogs cannot do much with their finds, they tend to bring home the more valuable gems and metals, which means that hunting can often prove quite lucrative. If a dog finds 3/3 pieces of a fragmented collectable, the object can be "assembled" for a unique object to decorate the Sim's home or sold for a decent amount of Simoleons.

Dogs with a hunting skill of 4 or higher can be told to "fetch date" and will bring back an attractive member of the Sim's preferred gender.

On the other hand, cats do have the option of eating their prey; or it can be kept as another pet, sold for cash, or released back into the wild.

Challenges (Cat)

 * Creeping And Crawling
 * A Creeping And Crawling expert has caught 20 Beetles. As a reward, the chance of catching and finding rarer Beetles is increased.


 * Slither Stalker
 * A Slither Stalker has caught 20 reptiles. As a reward lizards, snakes, and turtles will always successfully be caught.


 * Feline Fisher
 * A Feline Fisher has caught 20 Fish. As a reward the chance of catching rarer fish is increased.


 * Homing Whiskers
 * Cats with Homing Whiskers have caught at least 20 rare prey. As a reward the amount of time it takes to find prey is decreased.