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[Anise]

My dwarves were mining happily and going about their business when suddenly I got about six messages that the rhesus macaques have stolen x-items. Furious, I searched high and low on the map to find them and slaughter the stealing pests, but they were nowhere to be found.

So, any pointers on how to prevent this from happening again?

-Ani

[Frogman]

I'm not sure, but I think that when the stolen-message appears, they've already left the map. Also, um. Don't keep stuff outside, and chain some dogs outside your fortress' entrance. That usually keeps the monkeys away.

[Dreamer]

Just keep an eye out for the little critters, and when you see 'em, draft your carpenter into an axedwarf and put him in their way.  That usually makes everything fine and dandy - They don't stand a chance against even an unskilled dwarf with a weapon.

Don't forget to change him to harass wild animals in the military menu, though.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

I just store stuff inside and built a door.

[Anise]

Everything valuable is kept indoors behind doors...I had heard of this macaque problem before, and thought that that would solve it. But no! I will definitely chain a couple dogs outside my main entrance to up the ante.

Thanks!

-Ani

PS
They just did it again as I was typing this.

[ktrey]

Remember, if there have been any deaths, or if you have trappers out and hunting, the monkeys/racoons will also loot dead bodies or steal (iron bolts). Sometimes these are rather close to the edge of the map, so the critter will grab it and run.

[hactar1]

You can find out where they are by scrolling to the bottom of the (U)nits screen.  It should list all the animals on the map, and you can jump to each of them to see where they are.

Lots of times some random hunter, kobold, elf merchant guard, etc will get killed up in the corner of the map, where you may have trouble finding.  The monkeys could be stealing a dead creature's gear.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Well actually the bottom of the "u" list shows all the creatures that have died on the map, so starting from the bottom could make things take a long time if you've done allot of hunting and fighting.

[Fourth Triad]

Try putting traps in the entrance.

[Deathworks]

Hi!

Yeah, not as annoying as several unicorn herds, but still a real pest.

My advice is the following: During the early game, when you still have lots of stuff outside, check the Unit list regularly, every few days. As soon as the macaques (or racoons) are there, check where they are and keep an eye on them. Not always will they come over to visit, but often. Once they get too close, get some hunter ready or an aggressive soldier.

Putting things indoors is basically helpful, but don't rely on it. Macaques will enter your fortress, going through doors if necessary, so letting your guard down can be nasty.

As was said before, the message is shown once the macaque leaves the map, so it is too late. Since they come in raid parties, even if you respond to the first message, it may be too late as the others are already too close to the edge of the map.

Also keep an eye open for "... cancels ... : Interrupted by rhesus macaque" type messages. If you don't check the unit list regularly, these are your earliest warnings (besides, they are also a major annoyance as they can block fisherdwarves or dwarves who chose to drink from the river for ages).

There is one upside to macaque/racoon infested maps: Caravan guards will kill them, like just about anything else not willing to engage in trade. So, having a butcher shop and tanner ready may be handy when the caravan comes in (I regularly had racoons try to raid a map while the dwarves were there ... that was really nice).

Deathworks

[Rhinosaur]

My solution to the monkey problem was to bring 4 stray dogs at the start instead of 2. I used to just take 2, but a Macaque raid from hell overwhelmed them one time. I figured, if a bunch of damned monkeys can run roughshod over my early defenses, it's time to increase them. As a bonus, you'll have about a million dogs in your fortress in no time at all, good for training, good for crafting, great for eating.

Dog: it's the other other white meat.

[Haedrian]

quote:Originally posted by Rhinosaur:
<STRONG>My solution to the monkey problem was to bring 4 stray dogs at the start instead of 2. I used to just take 2, but a Macaque raid from hell overwhelmed them one time. I figured, if a bunch of damned monkeys can run roughshod over my early defenses, it's time to increase them. As a bonus, you'll have about a million dogs in your fortress in no time at all, good for training, good for crafting, great for eating.

Dog: it's the other other white meat. </STRONG>

That had happened to me, there was a raid by the monkeys and they killed off both my dogs. Took me 4 years till I got more dogs again (from the human traders)...

However 2 extra dogs are expensive ...

[Rhinosaur]

Two more dogs is like 32 points, not too bad, just take less meat or liquor. I either take 2 picks and 1 axe and have 2 miners, 1 woodcutter, or reverse and have 2 axes and 1 pick, so there's an extra 100 points right there. I have found dogs to earn their keep more often then not, even when they randomly kill some animals I can butcher.

[Asehujiko]

Don't let them go after anything big tho. 4 elephants vs 250 or so war dogs = a pretty good 300 reenactment, complete with caravan guards arriving from behind.

[Veroule]

My tactic for them is to just set up something for them to steal early.  10 stone mugs right at the beginning isn't hard to make while your miners are getting an initial area made.  Then the monkeys steal the mugs and you don't really care.  It deals with thier first raid, and after that you should be able to have some defenses set up to kill them in the future.  It is just the first raid can be a little early to have everything in where you want it.