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[jez9999]

Sometimes the "critters" (like lungfish, dragonflies, etc.) blink on my map and sometimes they don't.  I don't know whether this is somehow connected to a piece of refuse that is also blinking because it's on a slope so it blinks between the refuse and the slope's up arrow.  You'll see what I mean in these two movies I recorded of it:
Not blinking
Blinking

These two movies were recorded with 10 or 20 seconds gap between them - after 10 or 20 seconds, the critters stopped blinking.  Even more strangely, when I pause and scroll around, sometimes they start blinking and then sometimes they stop.

Is this a bug in the game or is there some reason behind this?

[Solon64]

Said critters are called vermin. They only appear blinking because vermin are in fact not really present as actual creatures. The blinking is them actually disappearing entirely from the map. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, most vermin are essentially infinite in number, the only ones that aren't are usually vermin fish (the kind your fisher dwarves fish up).

Most people who read this topic, like me, will likely think you mean the same blinking that forgotten beasts, legendary dwarves, and some nobles have, which is an entirely different blinking.

TL;DR version: your blinking critters are vermin, they do that, completely normal behavior :p

[jez9999]

But then how do you explain the times (evidenced by the recording) when they are not blinking?

[Drazinononda]

"Not blinking" is what vermin do all the time. As Solon pointed out, when they are "blinking" it is actually them phasing in and out of existence, more or less at random. I don't know the game's inner workings well enough to say this with surety, but as far as I can tell any given tile has a certain chance of "spawning" a vermin, which is related to factors including but not limited to contaminants, food or refuse on the ground. If a given tile has a high chance of spawning vermin, then it may happen that several spawn and despawn quickly, giving an appearance of blinking.

Vermin also can move about, and many of them can fly, so there's a chance as well that the "blinking" is due to the vermin flying up and down into the same tile.

[jez9999]

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

[Valtam]

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

Even water moves when the game is paused, as long as you scroll a few screens. Tends to happen, stuff is there in a state, and it changes such state even while the game is strictly paused.

But you don't have to worry about this vermin stuff.

[Sergarr]

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

Even water moves when the game is paused, as long as you scroll a few screens.

Wait, what? Really?

[Akura]

The blinking is *not* them "phasing in an out of existence". It represents vermin, being very tiny creatures, and therefore hard to see, as simply not being visible at that moment. They're still "there", but you cannot find them, even if you use look mode(k key). But it's perfectly normal. Vermin wiki page if you're interested.

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

Even water moves when the game is paused, as long as you scroll a few screens.

Wait, what? Really?

Yeah, what? Are you sure you're not hitting the period key, which causes the game to move one step forward? Otherwise, that sounds like a bug.

[Loud Whispers]

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

Even water moves when the game is paused, as long as you scroll a few screens. Tends to happen, stuff is there in a state, and it changes such state even while the game is strictly paused.

But you don't have to worry about this vermin stuff.

Flowing water blinks even when paused, but the actual water does not physically move.

[Valtam]

I don't thnik that's correct - this blinking (or not) was going on while the game was paused.

Even water moves when the game is paused, as long as you scroll a few screens. Tends to happen, stuff is there in a state, and it changes such state even while the game is strictly paused.

But you don't have to worry about this vermin stuff.

Flowing water blinks even when paused, but the actual water does not physically move.

Sorry, phrased it the wrong way.