This page is for discussing the titles and contents of Town Wildlife, Town Fauna, and Wiki Animals (aka Pets).
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The three entries grew as needed, and a couple people have pointed out that their scope is confusing. I think they were more obvious originally, but due to overlap and poor interlinking, they have gotten vague in purpose. Here's what they are theoretically for:
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Town Wildlife is for wild animals like Bats.
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Town Fauna is for domesticated animals like emus.
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Wiki Animals is for pets (companion animals).
Some, like Turkeys, are both wild and domesticated and thus there is overlap. Mice have managed to make all three lists (go, go, little murines!).
The way I see it, there are a few options:
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Leave them the way they are and let them develop. Of course, the other two choices are development too, so it isn't like there's any "purity" to retain. Is there any benefit in keeping them vague?
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Rename them to clarify the situation. This has the benefit of also making space for famous animals who are not companions of wiki editors (like a past mayor's dog that was famous, or some other companion animal who is town noteworthy a la the people profiles).
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Combine them into one or two entries. I don't like this idea, as wildlife, domesticated and companion animals are three different lists in most cases when you're looking for them. Are there wild jackalopes in the area is a good question, and just because somebody has a pet or stuffed one doesn't mean they are local wildlife.
Proposed new names
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Town Wildlife (wild) — Wildlife, Town Fauna, Fauna, Wild animals, Animals
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Town Fauna (domesticated) — Domesticated Animals, Animal Husbandry, Livestock
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Wiki Animals (companions) — Companion Animals, Pets, Animals (a la People)
Personally, I like:
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Town Wildlife is renamed Town Fauna (To match Town Flora — it'll be fun correcting links)
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Town Fauna is renamed Livestock (my least favorite name, but I can't think of any better at the moment)
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Wiki Animals is renamed Animals (and thus corresponds to People)
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If needed, Famous Animals is created (a la Famous People).
I don't want to go running around changing all the links without discussing it a bit first (Town Wildlife -> Town Fauna will be a good number of edits). Anybody have any better names? I shot for directness and simplicity in these new names. I don't like "Livestock"... anybody have a better general term for the category cows should be in (not wild, not companions)?
2007-11-15 09:00:33 I think it would be good to rename the pages — I think they are more likely to develop (because people will see how to develop them) and not less if they are renamed to be less confusing. So, here's my take on renaming:
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Town Wildlife is renamed to Town Fauna. I too like keeping the flora/fauna parallel, and I think Jim Evans was
![[WWW]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png)
correct in saying that fauna conjures wildlife, not domesticated. However, I'd keep the Town Wildlife name and have it redirect to Town Fauna. Let's face it, not everyone knows what fauna means.
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Why not Domesticated Animals? I like that better than Livestock. Is the problem that Domesticated Animals is too inclusive? In other words, that we want to include cows, but have dogs be on a different page? If that's the worry, then how about Farm Animals?
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For the third category, I'd say use Companion Animals. Then we could have an Animals page to link to the other three and "disambiguate," if you like.
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And sure, a Famous Animals category if that is warranted. That would be a fourth page to link to from the Animals page.
Now, what about the Pets page? :-)
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Whups, looks like somebody already renamed Wiki Animals to Pets. Assume I meant renaming Pets when I said "Wiki Animals". :) I'm thinking "Animals" would be inclusive for service and working animals, from guide dogs to hunting dogs to working horses. The idea is that — like "People" — it would be list specific animals rather than the other two, which would be species. You are right, however, that "Animals" would be a good central page like Sports. As for using "Domesticated Animals", reading your point, I agree... and it also occurs to me that it might be perfect to twist it a little bit to include species like dogs there... just have 'Companion Species' and 'Livestock Species' sections (maybe not those specific terms, but just the idea of categorizing them there). So, to sum up my current view: there is local wildlife (exotic and native) at "Town Fauna" (with a redirect from "Town Wildlife" as you suggest), and "Domesticated Animals" has domesticated species (cows and hamsters in different sections), while "unknown" has specific, named pets, service and working animals (a la "People"), and finally "Animals" is an ant-farm to zoology overview of animals in Davis and links to the specific wiki resources. —jw
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Ah, ok — I didn't realize that Pets = Wiki Animals, either. (*phew* — we have enough confusion as it is). I think we're getting somewhere. How about an Animals page (a-z, as you describe), which links to:
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Town Fauna (with redirect from Town Wildlife)
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Domesticated Animals (with subcategories Farm Animals and Companion Animals) - I'm hesitant to use the word "species" because that will introduce additional complication as we try to determine what is a separate species and what is not.
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Pets — I like this name for the page, because in addition to the specific pets, it provides a links to general pet resources. Maybe a sub-section for Famous Pets. Are there any named animals that are not pets? I think service animals (at least guide dogs) are usually considered pets; don't know about the K-9 Patrol. Caveat: some people do find the term "pet," or "owner," offensive - I guess that's where "Guardian" and "Companion" come in. Hmm. Ok, maybe this third category still needs a name.
— CP
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Wiki Animals is the Pets page. It's a redirect.
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Famous Animals: Can you smell what Gunrock is cooking?
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Could we integrate wildlife and city animals on one page? Many animals are in both regions — ravens visit both the fields and the city every day.
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I'm leaving for Texas in about an hour — good luck on the page renaming stuff.
2007-11-15 13:25:47 As a very brief update, I checked with Sarah, and guide dogs and the like are unquestionably never referred to as pets, alas. (She's raised several and we have pictures of them with their owners all over the house). That combined with the problem some people have with the term "pet" (personally, I don't), might mean a bit of reflection might be best. There's no hurry, and thinking it through seems like a good idea if we're moving stuff around. —JabberWokky
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I'd say "never" is a bit strong; I know people who do consider them as pets. In any case, if it bothers some or most, that's enough to avoid it. Animals with Names? Named Animals? — CP
2008-01-26 06:54:33 Poke: I'm going to move forward on this andblunder though reorganizing everything.. if anybody has any input before I start moving stuff around to try and make the entries more easy to navigate and understand, please chime in now. —JabberWokky
