Animal

Animals in The Sims

Apart from pets that you can buy, there are other, wilder, animals that appear in The Sims. The first wild animal (as long as you don't count the cockroach) was Claire the Bear, a grizzly bear who was introduced in The Sims Hot Date. She occasionally wanders onto your lot, and although she means no harm, she often roots around in your trashcan, waking up all the Sims in your house. If the wooden bear statue is outside your house when she appears, she will wave at it; if you put a bear skin rug out, poor Claire will start crying.

With the Sims Unleashed came a variety of new wild critters. Should your Sim have a vegetable patch with crops in them, especially carrots, then it is likely to be visited by rabbits and gophers, which can quickly destroy your garden. The only way of getting rid of them is by buying a cat or a scarecrow, who will scare off any small mammals who fancy nibbling at your crops.

Raccoons can also appear, but they aren't as troublesome. Like Claire the bear, raccoons like to paw around in your trashcan, waking your Sims in the dead of night. If you have a dog, though, it can chase the raccoon away before your Sims awaken. The skunk is another visitor, and although he doesn't wake up your Sims, he can spray them if they go to pet it, which will put their Hygiene down to zero. Your pets can get sprayed as well if they go to investigate it. The skunk will leave after a few days, but if you're in a hurry, you can phone Animal Control and they will humanely remove the skunk from your property for §30.

Animals in The Sims 2

There are very few animals in the Sims 2, the bulk of which were released in pets.

• Flies and Cockroaches are pests. Flies signify rotten food and although harmless by themselves can swarm in great numbers and kill Sims with Death by flies. Cockroaches only appear if there is a great mess in the vicinity. Sims will autonomously try to squash cockroaches, earning a bad memory and triggering the cockroach fear. Sims can spray cockroaches to get rid of them, but the best thing to do is to call the exterminator.

• Cats and Dogs arrived as the main feature in pets and are the most versatile animals. They can be created in CAS just like a Sim and can be assigned a personality. They also have a motive panel, memories, can learn commands and behaviors. (For example, a cat sitting on a kitchen counter can be praised or scolded by a Sim, which will affect the likelihood of the action being repeated.) However, they are not directly controllable, although if a pet is taught a certain command, a Sim can later command them to do an activity related to that command. For example, a pet that knows the Come command can be told to go inside/outside.

• In Pets you can also buy Womrats (guinea pigs), Parrots, and Fish. They do not show up as a member of the family like dogs or cats however and have very limited customization.

• Skunks can also be found in Pets. They can be petted, watched or shooed, although the skunk will spray your sims if you try the first two. It may also spray your pets.

• In Seasons, a Penguin sometimes appears on the lot, particularly in Winter, or if you have a fish on the lot. A sim can either 'Pet' or 'Shoo' a penguin, but the penguin will do other things on the lot, such as slide in the snow, eat fish on the ground and talk to snowmen.