Animal Movement Around Water

[Kels]

I've got a couple of questions about animal movement on islands and peninsulas that I haven't seen answered specifically elsewhere. As far as I know, animals can't cross unfrozen water. Is there any way for them to escape an island? Also, if they're on a peninsula, can they cross very narrow strips of land? There's one that is connected by a single zoomed in square. Not even a full square, it connects at the diagonal. My companion was having trouble crossing it when zoomed in. But no issues on the zoomed out view. I'm assuming that animals travel based on the "zoomed out" map, potentially ignoring trees and other obstacles that are a factor when "zoomed in".

I do know I can cross narrow strips of land in my raft if it's close enough to another water square. Is it possible for an animal to cross water if there's land close enough? This is primarily in regards to trap fences and setting traps on an island with an animal present. I want to make sure that if I set a trap, it's likely to eventually catch the animal, rather than the animal leaving the island. Possibly also making a note of an animal spotted on an island so I can return and hunt it at a later time without concern it will be gone by the time I come back.

To sum up my questions,

- Can an animal escape an island in summer?
- Is it possible for an animal to "jump" a small body of water if there's land close enough on the other side?
- What is the smallest strip of land that can be traversed by animals?
- Is there another factor that could cause an animal to disappear from an island?

Thanks.

[PALU]

- Yes and no... An animal can't leave an island if there's no way off of it. However, animals can spawn and despawn on islands, so there's no guarantee it will remain if you return later, but they tend to stay around for a fair while.
In the above, I've excluded the obvious cases of seals, beavers and birds.

- Currently animals can't handle water. However, I don't know if regular animals movement uses zoomed in or zoomed out movement when the PC isn't in the vicinity. I'm fairly sure they can't pass trap fences if there's no way around and they're too large to pass through (they can still spawn inside, though).

[krikkit war robot]

Animals can despawn, as PALU said. I don't know the exact mechanics involved, but I would assume animals don't despawn from the current wilderness map tile. Nearby and/or recently-visited tiles (visited on the zoomed-in map) are probably reasonably safe as well. It's also possible for animals to spawn on islands, which setting traps allegedly influences (again, I don't know the exact mechanics, but it's beneficial so long as you don't upset the forest spirits).

Animals can't cross water if it means entering the water. I don't know about crossing water where the land is connected diagonally, but I would assume so. I've seen them pass through diagonal gaps in fences. If you're worried about animals escaping, just block their path with a trap.

Predation does exist in URW, so you could lose your prey to a predator, unlikely as it is. But, hey, predators are more valuable anyway!

[JP_Finn]

NPC hunter might get the animal as well.

Most of the time they’re staying on island until ice forms.

[Kels]

Thanks for the answers. So short answer is, yes they stay on the island for a while unless there's something that kills them or possible despawn, which doesn't seem to occur that quickly.

I was mainly asking so if you are on your raft, floating down the river and see a reindeer herd on an island, you can return to the island and they'll likely still be there. I saw a pack of wolves on that long island, so I put a trap fence at the narrow point in the middle. I hope they're still there and I can get a couple.