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submitted by Yiffing_Time
[link] [7 comments]

submitted by xandertheblue
[link] [10 comments]

Hey! Looking for a furry room where you can RP and make friends? Join The Furhouse! Where you can RP with furries like yourself!. :) Feel free to play the opposite gender, Herm, femboy :) http://us12.chatzy.com/67682957075884

submitted by ZephyrPhoenix
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submitted by evilsibe
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TigerTails Radio Season 8 Episode 02
The latest episode of TigerTails Radio. For previous episodes, visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk From: TigerTails Radio Views: 35 1 ratings Time: 02:03:25 More in People & Blogs

submitted by Warloxwill
[link] [7 comments]

submitted by Warloxwill
[link] [1 comment]

submitted by ODSTALCAPWNED
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submitted by xandertheblue
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Hey Furballs, I wanted to get an idea on whats going on in the community and what kind of furs are out there. Here's is the SURVEY!

I'm gonna end the survey on Friday, April 5th. And post the results over the 6th-7th weekend.

EDit 3: So I am just over halfway to my goal of 1000 responses by midnight Friday. with 10,000+ members I know we can do it! Help me out and share this with your fellow fuzzbutts!

Edit: Please feel free to share this survey with your furry friends, I want to get as much data as possible.

Edit 2: A big hand to the mods of /r/furry for stickying this post. I owe you!

submitted by Jondoe1791
[link] [41 comments]

 

Purple Zebra by CC (gokart on Weasyl, click for link)

Can we all agree that zebras are awesome?

Excellent. Then let’s take a quick look at the phenomenon of the urban zebra.

Zebras are notoriously hard to domesticate. Unlike horses, zebras have no history of selectively breeding to make them a suitable pet. It does happen, but there are all sorts of problems.

Many experts argue that domesticating a zebra is dangerous, impractical, and inhumane (ref).

Zebras are dangerous because of their kick, which is significantly more dangerous than a horse kick. For starters, zebra kicks are aimed: a zebra looks backwards, between its legs, to increase its chances of hitting the mark. This is an evolved prey response: in a fray with a lion, this is often the zebra’s best chance for survival.

Secondly, zebras are aggressive creatures. They kick and they bite with little provocation and no notice. This is also likely a product of their status as prey animals – if your survival strategy was largely to loll around in the open and hope to not be eaten, you’d have a nervous disposition too.

Pictured: IT’S A ZEBRA CROSSING

The dangerous nature of zebras is a large part of what makes them impractical domestic animals, but it’s also their capacity to learn. Experience suggests that zebras take a long time to ‘break’, and rarely achieve a long-term placid demeanour. They have short attention spans, mood swings, and are stubborn.

Zebra herd behaviour is a problem as well. A typical zebra herd includes a single male associated with a group of females, and the females have a strict hierarchy. The females will attack one another if the hierarchy is challenged, much like a chicken pecking order. In general, the dominant female walks at the front of the herd, with the other females following in order of dominance. This behaviour makes managing more than one zebra in a domestic environment especially challenging.

Some argue that training and riding a zebra is also inhumane, in part because zebras require very harsh treatment to manage their aggression. Zebras are also not as sturdy as horses, who have been bred to handle the weight of a human rider. Some experts judge that riding a zebra will inevitably cause the animal pain and possible injury.

It’s instructive that zebras have never been used in any significant capacity as beasts of burden in sub-Saharan Africa. Areas afflicted with the tsetse fly are unsuitable for horses, who suffer animal trypanosomiasis, which causes weakness and death (zebras are immune). Domestication of work animals is seen in many human civilizations, yet zebras were never domesticated by indigenous African people.

Even so, zebras can be domesticated and have been domesticated. In many parts of the world, including parts of the United States, zebras are classified as horses and so are subject to regulations that allow them to be kept as pets. They are expensive (a zebra foal will cost you upwards of $10,000), and so could probably be best described as vanity items for the rich.

But they are out there. Zebras ‘races’, usually with only two participants, take place from time to time but they’re not as much fun as they sound. The zebras don’t race: they mostly wander about aimlessly, paying little attention to the direction of the racetrack or the rider’s urgings.

Zebra racing at Fairgrounds Race Course, New Orleans, USA

Zebra racing got the feature-film treatment in Racing Stripes, a 2005 kids that tried to channel the cute-talking-animal spirit of Babe. It’s a genuinely terrible film, following the story of a zebra who dreams of becoming a champion racehorse. There is a lot to dislike, not least two horseflies who have ‘stereotypical black guy’ and ‘stereotypical white guy’ characterizations and banter back-and-forth in the kind of casually racist fashion that stopped being appropriate sometime in the 1980s.

Racing Stripes also features some godawful CGI, some terrible attempted accents by the supporting cast (who are all South African pretending to be from Kentucky), and a plot that sees Stripes cheat his way to victory. In his review, Roger Ebert said “There are kids who will like it, but then there are kids who are so happy to be at the movies that they like everything. ”

Probably the highest-profile and most successful example of zebra domestication was Walter Rothschild (1868-1937), an eccentric British zoologist. Rothschild, a member of the famous financial dynasty, trained zebras to drive carriages around London, most famously in Hyde Park and around Buckingham Palace.

Walter Rothschild in Hyde Park, London

The picture above is the most famous picture of Rothschild’s zebras, and it shows that Rothschild knew a thing or two about zebra behaviour. If you look closely, you’ll see that one of the leading animals is a horse (the photograph is framed to hide this as much as possible). The single leading zebra is the dominant female, and so the following two (female) zebras can be harnessed behind her without challenging the natural herd dynamic.

Rothschild never trained his zebras to carry a rider, identifying the zebra’s lack of back strength, and the risk to humans due to general zebra skittishness. Even with this precaution, one of his zebras killed a groomsman with a well-targeted kick.

Rothschild again, in his amazing zebra deathcarriage

Those of us in the UK can visit Walter Rothschild’s collection at the Natural History Museum in Tring, some 40 miles north-west of London.

Those with more visceral tastes may choose to skip the museum and instead enjoy some ex-zebra. Zebra meat is easy to come by in most countries, most likely found at an African-themed steakhouse or specialty butcher. I’m vegetarian nowadays and so I’ve missed my chance to try it, but I’m told that zebra is a mild-tasting red meat, similar to beef or horse. (Curiously, zebra is easy to come by even in those parts of the United States where horse meat is taboo.) Zebra is a lean meat, and so prone to becoming dry if overcooked. Order it rare.

Okay guys, thanks to everyone who was interested, asked a question, or is now reading this!
I am really nervous about this because despite wanting to be a journalist when I was younger this is the first real project I've set myself, and I can't help feeling like it looks more like some office assignment notes than a detailed explanation of what's gone on.

I've tried to be fair, refer to evidence and what I actually did, but the journey took so long I'm on a different computer, and I only started typing up 3 days ago.

Anyway, sorry for trying to excuse myself, for anyone interested it's HERE!

It includes multiple text files (did that on purpose rather than say PDF or Word Document for tiny file size, good readability and lack of requiring additional programs), 7 examples of music tracks (only by 3 artists, I wanted a snappy show of common style), a small image of art and the only chart I have that's readable and digitalised.

Anyway, thanks a lot for everything, even just being nice to me.
Now this is out the way I'll settle in properly and show my personality as a new furry in actual conversation rather than impersonal text files.

Thanks!

EDIT: For those who can't/won't download the full thing, brave imgur's rollercoaster connection to see an image version.

submitted by JP193
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submitted by KimbaSnowpaw
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Everyone here has probably got a favourite type of furry, but what species do people not like and why?

I myself don't like rodents (rats, mice, squirrels etc.). I don't really know why, but there is something that makes me dislike them.

submitted by SeasWouldRise
[link] [99 comments]

I can't easily wear contacts due to allergies. Does anyone have experiences or insights on fursuit heads with either internal or external glasses? I know they could fog up, but that would be preferable to not being able to see at all!

submitted by Jaycatt
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submitted by ApocalisseLupo
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Anyone got a furry bumper sticker or somethin' like that? I'm thinkin' about getting my new car a sticker that says something about bein' a furry or something. Maybe even be cool if it said what species my 'sona is...(Mouse pride!) or something. Anyone got one or know where I might buy up a nice sticker?

submitted by the_one_silverwind
[link] [6 comments]

Here is an article by Maggie McGlinchy, in the Onward State (the student-run blog of Pennsylvania State University).

http://onwardstate.com/2014/03/31/meet-the-penn-state-furries/

It looks at Penn State Furries club, with comments by members Cory Grube and Corey Friedenberger.


When I made the descent into Irving’s basement, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It was to be my first meeting with the Penn State Furries, the Happy Valley sector of the fan culture for people who like to, in its simplest form, dress up and pretend to be animals. My own naivety led me to expect someone like Todd Cleary from Wedding Crashers, or perhaps a unicorn-clad soul hunched up in the corner.

Instead, I found Cory Grube and Corey Friedenberger, two sociable and amicable members of the Penn State Furries club who are trying to bring the group back to its former glory.

Grube is a junior chemical-engineering major here at Penn State, and Friedenberger is a recent graduate and long time PSU Furries member. As someone who already had predispositions about the Furry community, the Cor(e)ys were quick to explain that the Furries are not a culty pack of weirdos.

“It’s always the bad egg that goes to the media and gives us a bad name,” said Friedenberger. “Most of us are just a bunch of people with the same anthropomorphic interest trying to have a good time.”

The Penn State Furries colonized in 2007 during Friedenberger’s freshman year, although the group’s membership eventually dwindled and became inactive with time. After hearing so many stories about the group’s former glory days, Grube decided he wanted to bring the club back to life.

“I was really disappointed at how stagnant the group became,” said Grube. ”I just wanted to grow my friend-base, while growing the friend-bases of others at the same time. More friends all around makes the world a better place, you know? Also, I really wanted to see it reach a place similar to where it was when Corey was a student. Whether that’s possible or not, I have no idea, but we’re going to try.”

The Penn State Furries group is independent from Penn State to allow non-students to participate. While still based around Penn State, anyone from State College is welcome to join, per the Facebook group description:

“For all those tail-waggers out there who bleed blue and white! This group is for current and incoming Penn State students, alumni, faculty/staff, and State College locals who are part of the anthropomorphic furry community in one form or another.”

The casual, open-armed attitude also translates into a strong bond among the Furries in its group. Take, for instance, its membership flier: “YOU ARE NOT ALONE! THERE ARE TONS OF FURS IN THE AREA LOOKING FOR FRIENDS LIKE YOU!”

(membership flier)

Grube said the group has no plan to affiliate with the university any time soon, because he wants to maintain its loose schedule and officer-less structure.

“Having officers or leadership positions makes it too bureaucratic, at least for my tastes,” Grube said. “For the purpose of getting to know people, I don’t want to be the leader or president or whatever, I just want to be a friend.”

Additionally, even among the Furries community, the interests are so diverse it would be nearly impossible to hold an actual meeting.

“We could offer things at meetings like an open space for furry art critique, panels for teaching a skill like sewing, useful for things like fursuit making, or what have you,” Grube said. “The group is so spread out in terms of interests, so for any particular topic, we might only have 10 or 20 percent of the group that would be interested. It wouldn’t be a very effective means for getting to know each other, which is the core purpose of the group.”

Friedenberger considered affiliating with Penn State when he first started the group, but chose not to for the same reason. Despite the economic benefits that come with being an official club, it would be too formal for this liking.

“There’s no real subtext or motive to the group,” said Friedenberger. “It means different things to different people. For some people it’s spiritual, some people are really into anthropomorphic art, some people really feel they are an animal trapped in a human body, and others are just people who like to party.”

The highlight in the life of any “Fur” is attending the various Furries conferences. In January, a solid contingent from the PSU Furries attended Setsucon at the Penn Stater hotel, which is focused on anime.

“Small cons usually exude a cozy, friendly feeling,” said Grube. “Lucky for us, we have a small convention right at the Penn Stater, Setsucon. It’s not a furry convention in reality, but an anime convention. Regardless, it still draws in a lot of local furry artists, enthusiasts, and fursuiters. There are two reasons for this: Many furs have another common interest, anime. A secondary reason is that furries like conventions in general, as long as they get to hang out with friends and have a good time.”

There are dozens of larger Furry conventions across the country, including Anthrocon, held annually in Pittsburgh, and FurFest. Furries sometimes spend thousands of dollars on costumes for these conventions, often going by their names and personas from Fur Affinity, the largest online Furry community in the world.

The once annual convention in Detroit, Furry Connection North, became so popular that they had to shut it down after six years. This video helps illustrate the scene:

(video)

The Cor(e)ys told me that cons often start small at various cities, only to become insanely popular. The parties get bigger and more wild, and eventually the convention moves another hotel, as was the case with Furry Convention North. I was told more than a few times that Furries really know how to party and that’s what the community is for a lot of people: a group of people looking to have fun. Just, y’know, in costume.

Here is a video from a dance competition, which is often a highlight of the conventions. The furry in gray is a former Penn Stater.

(video)

Here are some photos of PSU Furries from this year’s Setsucon:

(photos)

What’s important to note about this group is that because their interest is so…unique, so is their friendship.

The Furry community is very accepting of people’s identities, especially in the LGBTA community. Discussions can range from weird stuff the Furs read on the Internet to casual conversations about sexuality — they come up all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a con, a party, or even just at a coffee shop. Grube told this story from his last Anthrocon as an example of the virtue of the community:

“I feel like furs are more open-minded and chill about everything, in general. We were in our hotel, and it was probably 3 or 4 p.m. In fur-con time, that means it’s time to drink. So we’re going about that, when someone knocks at the door. We open the door, and some guy none of us know basically walks in while saying hi. He’s pretty smashed already, and offers us some beer. We proceed to have a conversation about lots of random stuff for probably 30 minutes before he left. None of us really knew what happened, but we were like ‘Eh he was pretty cool, I don’t mind.’ That’s the kind of chill attitude that lots of furs tend to possess.”

More than anything, though, Grube wants the Furries to be more than a label, more than an embarrassing sound byte or joke. At the end of the day, it allows a group of people to take their virtual interests and create friendships IRL. And really, that’s what the PSU Furries are all about.

Dear Papa Bear, 

I have to say that finding your advice column may prove to be a great boon for me.

My current problem is actually several problems compounding into one. I’ll begin with my accident in November; it left me with some nerve damage in my left shoulder and hand as well as a spinal injury. Jumping ahead a couple months, on the night of January 5th, I woke up to find my mother dead on the kitchen floor. Since then it’s just been me left to deal with all of the fallout: I made the arrangements for the wake and funeral without any help from my aunt (her sister). My aunt spent my mother’s wake complaining about me inheriting everything to anyone who would listen.

After the funeral my aunt got into my mother’s safe deposit box and pulled everything from it including a copy of her trust. My mother had named my aunt as her successor trustee and set up the trust in such a way so that it could care for me and the house. Now my aunt has been extremely reluctant to work with me and has since hired an attorney for the trust however this attorney is looking out for his and her pocketbooks rather than the trust and my wellbeing. They call me uncooperative when in reality it’s my aunt who is unwilling to cooperate. She says that I’m constantly partying and should instead be looking for work however the extent of me partying comes down to one birthday party thrown for myself and attending Fur Squared. As far as job hunting is concerned there is not much that I’m allowed to do with my current injuries and my doctor has even chewed me out for doing basic house chores (ie: garbage, vacuuming, etc.).

Following a call in which the attorney that my aunt had hired decided to yell at and insult me, a few days ago I received a letter from him which was further insulting and unprofessional. Although in that letter he stated that both he and my aunt are getting paid for their services from the trust, this is important because in the trust it very specifically states that an individual trustee cannot take payment for their services. Furthermore in this line of issues the aforementioned attorney has claimed that bills including but not limited to the utilities for the house, food, and insurance are “estate debts” and as such are my sole responsibility and that the trust would not pay for them. However, he also claimed that the mortgage payment and property taxes are issues of the trust and will be paid from it, yet this month my aunt failed to make the mortgage payment.

Meanwhile, I’ve got two overdrawn checking accounts and no more food in my attempt to keep my house afloat. I don’t have a support network to lean on aside from people whom offer to “talk if I need to” which is nice but not what I need. I realize that I have forgotten to give my age, I’m 22 years old as of last month and despite my usual ability to be the adult of most situations I find that I am far from equipped to deal with even a quarter of what is now on my plate. Neither my father nor any other relatives are willing to help me in any way and I’m drowning in a sea of confusion, grief and unknowing. I honestly don’t know what to do and don’t know if I can continue to go through this alone but one thing I know for sure is that if this continues the way that it has been I will be homeless before the year is over.

I apologize for the massive block of text but I’m not of the mind to attempt to better separate things at the moment. I humbly ask for any advice you can pass on to me in the hopes that it can help.

Starving and worried

* * *

Dear Starving,

My condolensces for your loss, hon. At 22, you are of legal age, so you do not need someone else to administer the trust, but I guess that's what your mother did. I would very must like to have a look at the legal documents and see what they say exactly.

Because I can’t do that and because I am not an attorney, I would strongly recommend that you seek out legal counsel. Many lawyers will take a case for no advance payment (on contingency) if they feel they can win the case (and there's money in it for them). You definitely need a lawyer on your side. Your aunt is being a conniving so-and-so who is trying to wrest power and whatever money she can from you. Again, you are an adult and it is none of her business what you do with money that is legally yours, especially since she is not your legal guardian or spouse. (Is there some reason your mother made your aunt trustee and not you, the beneficiary?)

You need to get a copy of the will and the trust. (I hope you can get those). And find a local attorney. If you don’t know one, ask people you know whom they might recommend. If that doesn’t work, you can try a site like http://www.legalmatch.com/. Go to the Estate section and click on the for Contested Wills and Probate and answer the questions they have there. This will hopefully give you some leads you need.

My understanding of the law is that, generally speaking, if there is no will, the spouse of the deceased inherits the estate. You don’t mention your father or other siblings, so if you are the only living child, you would get the estate. If you were deceased, your aunt would probably be next in line, hmmmm. Anyway, it sounds like your mother did leave a will and left you with everything. Your aunt should have absolutely no legal standing in this issue—again, you are not a minor and she has no rights over you. All she has been asked to do is administer the trust.

Again, this is a legal matter and I’m no attorney. Get yourself some representation!

Good luck!

Papabear

My drinking buddy has hit the hay already and I'm just looking for some people to take to =.=.

submitted by SilverCinders
[link] [8 comments]