prioritize creature attack preferences: feeding vs territorial

In the real world, creatures prioritize attacking their preferred prey over other, unknown things. E.g. sharks don’t bite because they have a craving for human flesh, they bite because they mistake humans for seals.

That could be translated into an interesting game mechanic: If e.g. a nibbler sees a fish, it will go after it instead of the player - which allows the player to drop fish as distractions. Other creatures like the needler might be more territorial and attack literally ANYTHING over a certain size that wanders into their area - including e.g. wax moons.

That would give the player more options to deal with SOME creatures, while having to learn to tell the sheep from the goats.

Come to think about it, there would be another benefit: If creatures to some extent had their own agendas in life, they would feel a lot more like animals and less like mindless robots present only to annoy the player.