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[penco]

I finally found a good site in an untamed wilds tropical shrubland, so I am ready to start my elephant breeding industry.

I am trying to figure out the easiest way to catch an elephant. Yes, I know I could just spam cages everywhere, but I am looking more along the lines of taking advantage of their behavior. I know that you can catch goblins by luring them toward a chained kitten, and you can catch buzzards and monkeys by luring them towards food. Is there any way I can bait an elephant?

Or, if they won't take bait, how aggressive are they? I am thinking about just having my army chase them into a line of cages. The only problem is that if the elephants decide to fight, they might give me a run for my money... How hard is it to fight an elephant with an ill-equipped dwarf?

[Larry421]

I herded them into cage traps using 2 military squads.
Occasionally a soldier would flip out and attack, I *think* because he got too close. Elephant's flee range is higher than soldier's IT MOVES KILL IT range, I think.
I didn't suffer any casualties due to super-exploity overpowered soldiers, but I suspect elephants can put up a hell of a fight. Maybe draft some expendable dwarfs as elepherds...

[rephikul]

but I suspect elephants can put up a hell of a fight. Maybe draft some expendable dwarfs as elepherds...

If you use copper gears or worse it can 1-kick-ko most dwarves. If you dont it can still stun charge -> strangle to death loners.

[penco]

So they don't want my pump helmets? Shucks.

Okay, sounds like I will send a squad of 4-5 dwarfs with maybe bronze plate and helm, stand a good distance away and approach slowly, and push the elephants delicately toward my cages.

Thanks.

[EddyP]

I just put cages at chokepoints, like between two ponds. Works well enough.

[Durin Stronginthearm]

The only map I've had with elephants, they seemed to congregate around a particular muddy pool, so I put traps there and caught a few. I doubt they're actually attracted to water, however.

[Bordellimies]

make a "wall" of cage traps. Anyone who enter the map will have to pass trough them if they want to be somewhere else than the edges of the map.

[o_O[WTFace]]

Build a long wall with one opening with a cage trap in it.  The elephants decide to go to the other side of the wall and hit the trap.

I always build my fortresses with a huge above ground walled off courtyard, for farming and stuff.  I build a cage trap at each corner and I get about 2 creatures per season in them.  The herds bump up against the walls and get caught in the traps while trying to go around. 

[penco]

I kind of want to avoid building walls of cage traps, as that is sort of a time sink. The chokepoint method will work pretty well because I always moat off the whole map minus the ten tiles closest to the border. I will just make a few spots that are narrower than ten and fill them with cages.

I would feel more legit if I could somehow lure the elephants instead of just exploiting mysterious, insurmountable map borders, but I will take what I can get.

[MadBoat]

use plant gatherers and lumberjacks instead of military dwarves. less danger of provoking a fight that way.

[Uristocrat]

Make something like a long goblin-grinder filled with cage traps in the middle in the wilderness near somewhere you often see the critters.  The traps near the hatches are pressure plates that control that hatch.  Set the minimum weight as low as possible and make sure that citizens do NOT trigger them (this is the default) or your dwarfs will get trapped:


###################
H^..^^^^^^^^^^^..^H
###.##.##D##.##.###
H^..^^^^^^^^^^^..^H
###.##.##D##.##.###
H^..^^^^^^^^^^^..^H
###.##.##D##.##.###
H^..^^^^^^^^^^^..^H
###################

H = Hatch
. = Empty space
# = Wall
D = Down stairway (connect these to the pits beneath the hatches; things WILL fall down below, so give them a way to get to the traps)
^ = Trap (pressure plates next to the hatches that control the hatches; cage traps everywhere else)


You can also add vertical walls to make it harder for them to path through this.  Or take the easy way and just set up a few traps near natural choke points.

[Skelodwarf]

I've been chillin in my first elephant-map, and so far I've been catching PLENTY of stuff (After a month, 5 unicorns, 4 satyrs, and an elephant) with putting cage-trap traps at corners and chokes.

They look like this:

Code: [Select]

  c c 

c     c
  c c 
c     c

  c c   
Pretty much an octogon of cage traps, with two in the center.

The herd will walk through, and it'll catch them all.
Just. Like. Pokemon.