Finding wild animals (not in Apaloosa plains)

[pallyndrome]

I am playing Pets in Barnacle Bay, with a family that I would like to take in strays. So far (4 sim days), I have found 2 wild horses, a unicorn, a single interaction with a stray dog and brief glimpses of two cats 'going home'. I have not found any smaller animals. I am wondering if I need to add lots of spawners in order to find the strays and little critters? I can see big animals from map view, but it's not easy. I don't know where to look for the critters. I finally got my sim to be friendly enough with a wild horse, but the option to adopt was grayed out because he didn't have any riding skill! So I now have to buy a horse and get him some riding skill so he can go back and adopt that stray horse. How annoying :S

[cassims]

There is skill books for riding in the book corral at the library and for sale at the book store so you dont need to buy a horse.

[pallyndrome]

ooooh thank you! I should have guessed that! I think I'm going to go out without saving and try that idea...

EDIT: still would like advice on the wild animals...

[Twinmum]

You can also attend riding classes at the equestrian center, but I guess that depends on whether or not the game placed one in Barnacle Bay.

[MarianT]

If you have a cat with the hunting skill, it will start finding minor animals. It won't be able to catch them at first, but it will find them. The Collection Helper is supposed to show lizards, turtles, etc. I don't know yet whether it works because I tried it in China, where it didn't show anything, even though there are minor animals there (I know because my Sim caught one).

[Twinmum]

The collection helper works for all the minor pets in Apaloosa Plains.

[pallyndrome]

But has anyone gone and looked for wild pets in a neighbourhood other than Apaloosa Plains? Would you recommend I flood the town with spawners in order to get wild horses, stray dogs/cats, and small animals (snakes, lizards, etc.)?

[Twinmum]

I guess that's the real question. Someone might have to run a test in those towns and use cheats to get the collection helper to see if they are there. maybe there are some there, but not as many. Bit late here now to try something like that though.

[Wevee]

But has anyone gone and looked for wild pets in a neighbourhood other than Apaloosa Plains? Would you recommend I flood the town with spawners in order to get wild horses, stray dogs/cats, and small animals (snakes, lizards, etc.)?

They do show up in other towns. Sunset Valley and Riverview for sure.  I can't say about Barnacle Bay because I don't have it, but before you start putting too many spawners in, let me say they are very difficult to see even when looking right at them.  I can confirm that the collection helper does work in the towns. I haven't traveled with it yet though.  

The animals are very small, I played around with the helper turning it off so I could actually see what the animal looked like without the glowie and a couple times I lost where the animal was.  This was especially true of snakes and turtles, birds (especially the larger ones) are much easier to see, even with being zoomed out to max, almost map level.

[Lilygirl]

The Collection Helper works in Twinbrook, my Dynasty family have found a number of birds and a turtle! No rodents, snakes, or lizards yet. Relative to the number of spawn sites for gems, insects, and butterflies, there are very few spawn "sites" for new minor animals, at least that's what I found on my first Sim day with Pets - I think I had 5 birds and 1 turtle, nothing of the others. I haven't looked for minor pets since so the number of spawn "sites" may increase over the first couple Sim days.

[Twinmum]

Did a quick trial this morning in Barnacle Bay with the collection helper. There are spawn points for all the minor pets. I've only looked at the end of the first day, so I'm guessing more will pop up over a few game days. I have to go out now and can't keep looking, but I'll look more when I get back.
For now, near the military base and cemetery for snakes. Near the school for turtles. Rodents behind the tattoo salon. Lizards on the other side of the road where the cemetery is. Seems to be a few for birds alreaddy - At Grace's Garden, on the beach opposite the art gallery and near the house up near the Garden of the Forgoton.

[pallyndrome]

Thank you all for the help. I will look more for the little animals. I am still a bit unsure about stray dogs/cats and wild horses though. They seem to be very very few. So I might still put spawners for those in town, I'll see...

[Twinmum]

OK, not a lot of spawners, but they are there for the small animals. I also saw wild horses, but no cats or dogs yet, but I'm guessing that if those other animals are there, then the cats and dogs will be too.

[pallyndrome]

I am feeling disappointed that the small creatures are so hard to find and there are so few stray dogs/cats/horses. I've only found 2 wild horses - not the herd I was expecting - and even less cats/dogs. I think I will go back to a previous save and flood the neighbourhood with spawners and play again. I am just fed up with my family that has been trying to befriend wild creatures, and they're not getting anywhere. Because of the story I play (Ordinary lives of BB - in the misc stories section) I like to achieve stuff for each family's alloted time and I'm getting no where. It's not at all fun - I was really looking forward to this pack. So yeah, I think I'll start again with more spawners.

[Chuckles_82]

The first wild animal I saw in SV was a grey unicorn! (opposite the dynasty/legacy lot)