Animal

Animals and pets are featured throughout The Sims series.

The Sims
Apart from pets that can be bought, there are other, wilder, animals that appear in The Sims. The first wild animal (as long cockroaches aren't counted) was Claire the Bear, a bear who was introduced in The Sims: Hot Date. She occasionally wanders onto the lot being played, and although she means no harm, she often roots around in the trashcan, waking up all the Sims in the house. If the wooden bear statue is outside the house when she appears, she will wave at it; and if there is a bear skin rug Claire will start crying.

With The Sims: Unleashed came a variety of new wild critters. Should a Sim have a vegetable patch with crops, especially carrots, in it, then it is likely to be visited by rabbits and gophers, which can quickly destroy the 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 the crops.

Raccoons can also appear, but they aren't as troublesome. Like Claire the bear, raccoons like to paw around in the trashcan, waking the Sims in the dead of night. Sims can shoo raccoons or call Animal Control to humanely remove them before they get into the garbage, and dogs may chase a raccoon away. The skunk is another visitor, and although it doesn't wake up Sims, it can spray them if they go to pet it, which will put their hygiene down to zero. Pets can get sprayed as well if they go to investigate it. The skunk will leave after a few days, but Sims can phone Animal Control and they will humanely remove the skunk from the property for §30.

In The Sims: Makin' Magic, there is a spell named Toadification that temporarily turns a Sim into a toad. Be wary though, since the mayor's wife was caught kissing one, toads were run out of SimCity and is declared illegal (even though it's not in some areas, don't let people catch the Sim casting the spell). Besides the toad, if one of the spells backfires, there is a chance that the Sim will be swarmed by snakes and freak out. However, toads and snakes do not appear unless summoned or created by magic.

The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, 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, triggering the cockroach fear, and the Sim might get sick. Sims can spray cockroaches to get rid of them, but the best thing to do is to call the exterminator.

Fish can be obtained by Sims through the aquarium. There are not many interactions with fish; just 'Stock', then 'Feed', 'Clean Tank', and 'Watch'.

In the neighborhood view, there are also certain birds and ducks that players can place as decorations.

Cats and dogs arrived as the main feature in The Sims 2: 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 The Sims 2: Pets, players can also buy womrats (guinea pigs), parrots, and fish. However, they are not members of the family like dogs and cats are, and they have very limited customization.

Skunk can also be found in Pets. They can be petted, watched or shooed, although the skunk will spray Sims if they try the first two. A skunk may also spray pets.

In Seasons, a penguin sometimes appears on the lot, particularly in winter, or if there are 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.

Also in Seasons, Sims have the ability to catch butterflies in the daytime and fireflies at night. Once they are caught, the only interaction that is possible with them is 'Release'.

In FreeTime, part of the Nature hobby allows Sims to catch a variety of species of spiders, beetles and butterflies. Bugs caught can be viewed in the Sim's bug collection. Sometimes, while a Sim is catching bugs, he or she may be chased by bees.

In Apartment Life another small pet, a toy dog, is added. Players can buy an indoor dog pen to get one. The interactions are about the same as a womrat's or parrot's.

The Sims 3
There are fish and insects that Sims can collect and keep as pets in The Sims 3.

A bear can maul Sims that enter the mausoleum.

Sometimes, different birds fly across the sky in "V" shapes. The birds are mainly for show, the player cannot do anything with them.

There are pigeons in front of the City Hall in Bridgeport.

Animals are featured in the expansion pack, The Sims 3: Pets, as well as a new pet, horses. Not only are there horses but a new collection of cats, dogs, lizards, turtles, snakes and birds. There are also NPC animals such as deer, skunks, and raccoons. Horses, cats and dogs are fully controllable, just as Sims.

A unicorn is also one of the additions in the game. The unicorn is indeed magical, and can create or put out fires. In order to add one to an active family, the player will need to befriend the unicorn. Unicorns only come out during the night, and leave in early hours of the morning.