Hearing the Barks
I grew up in the middle of the woods. That’s no exaggeration. No other houses for miles. Just trees and trees.
I was always very familiar with the truly original furries…those being real wolves and foxes. I saw actual deer daily! We (humanely, because it was catching our chickens) caught a fox in our yard one time!
But it would be a while before I had met actual furries. And it was way longer before I knew them well.
My hometown is very rural in general. There wasn’t a lot of diversity. It wasn’t at all like a city. I was one of the few people with dyed hair-something that most of my friends now have had.
We also just didn’t have a large population. Not everyone had the internet, or used it super regularly like I did. Some internet cultures took longer to reach us.
My first furry was when I was in elementary school. Someone’s older brother was a fox and wore a tail to an after-school event. He taught us how to get onto the school’s wifi. Already a great first impression of furries.
Once I was more online, the main opinion of furries online was… less than great. I heard a lot of stuff from all sorts of people. I didn’t pay attention to most of it.
But I usually hung out with accepting, open-minded people. And I was always a fan of bright colors, which furries have always been good at using.
It wasn’t until high school that I had friends who were furries. Even then, though, we didn’t talk about it a lot. Not a lot of us were even out as gay, much less being animals. Friends who wore tails were looked down on.
Still, though, I hung out with theatre kids. Theatre kids couldn’t really make fun of people for wearing costumes. We got some of our stuff from the same places, too – local Renaissance fairs had tails and costumes.
We always had plenty of artists, too. I had friends who would draw what I would see now as furry art, but at the time, I just thought it was cute cartoons.
By the time I got into college, I had a handful of furry friends, but I wasn’t super into the community yet. I didn’t consider myself a furry. Hell, I didn’t even have a fursona yet!
Entering the Park
Shortly after turning 19, I ran into one in the wild…
Well, at a concert, at least.
He caught my attention immediately. It was the first time I’d seen someone fursuiting in public, much less at an event that wasn’t furry-focused.
We started talking. I complimented his suit- a very subtly neon orange coyote.
He was dancing in the suit and everything, which I hadn’t considered someone could do. I thought it would be too fragile or too sweaty. He would dance, and even get into mosh pits, pretty regularly in the suit-which I still find impressive.
When he took off his fursuit head, I thought… oh no, he’s hot. When he left momentarily, I said to a friend, I hope the hot furry comes back.
The hot furry did come back. I started talking to him and the friends he’d brought. We had a lot in common-other queer, trans people, with similar music and video game interests. He was the only one in a proper fur suit, though.
I gave him my social media accounts, and we started talking. The conversation started with one of the more common furry questions:
Do you have a fursona?
Did I have a fursona? I mean, not really. I hadn’t really thought of it. I thought about my room, and what I had kept getting for gifts for holidays for the past few years.
It was my first fursona, and it was totally revolutionary: I would be… a fox.
I had heard about furries for years. I could count on one hand how many furries I knew before entering college.
I really just never considered joining the community. I didn’t know many, so I didn’t really see an easy way in. I also was never a visual artist, which most of the furries I knew then-and now know-tended to be.
My new furry friend happened to be a very good furry artist, even doing art for a nearby furry convention.
So then, I had it all- a fursona, a fursona ref, and pretty soon after, a furry boyfriend and furry friend group.
Barking Hello
Within months, I was surrounded by furry friends. I joined a Discord with some of my boyfriends’ furry friends.
Once I was more aware of furries, I started seeing them everywhere. Friends of mine started talking about being furries. I got closer to the furries that I did know.
I brought my boyfriend to a local pride event. It was a very small event-small community, a small town. He was the only one fursuiting, of course. People loved him. My mom thought he was a mascot for the event.
When you’re gay, you have to come out to people… a lot. Even more so if you’re also transgender. People in my life were familiar with those facts.
Having to explain furries to people who didn’t know anything about them was a new experience.
I also had to start defending them to people who were misinformed-no, they’re not weird, it’s just a form of expression.
And these explanations worked, because most of these people just didn’t know any furries. They just needed someone to explain it.
My boyfriend made me a tail and a con badge- a large laminated drawing of my fursona to put on a lanyard. I had a set of fox ears from a Halloween costume a few years prior.
When I got to my first-ever furry convention, at age 20, I was welcomed with open arms. There was no judgment about the fact that it was my first convention. People actually seemed excited for me.
Furry conventions are some of the most colorful, diverse events you’ll see. The bright colors were endless.
There also isn’t a wrong way to be a furry. Though a lot of people were in full suits, a lot of us weren’t. My boyfriend wore a head and paws, but I liked just having my tail and ears. No one bothered me about that.
Gradually, I learned, and am still learning, about furry culture. The community is like its own world entirely. People are happy to explain furry customs if you ask.
I got pretty involved with a university furry club, despite not going to that university. I’ve made plans to join my next college’s furry club. I even started making more fursonas… with the help of my artist boyfriend. I’m thrilled to be part of the group now.
My Furry Journey
I started by barely knowing any furries. Before that one night and that one concert, I knew probably less than 10. It was just a subculture I didn’t get into.
I barely knew anything about furries. I had seen the art around, but I wasn’t an artist. I liked the characters, but I didn’t usually make characters like that.
It wasn’t until I was really invited to be a furry that I even considered it.
If you find the right group, the furry community is absolutely amazing to be a part of. My furry friends have been nothing but welcoming.
Coming from a rural area made it harder to get into the community in real life. There isn’t a large community in my area now-most of the events I go to are over 2 hours away.
My advice, then, especially for rural furs, is to make friends with the ones you know. Start conversations with people wearing tails. Say hi to people in furry-adjacent fashions.
Suppose you can, go to events in the city. Talking to one person can lead you to a huge social network.
If you’re considering it, make a fursona. Talk to a furry, in-person or online. The furry community has been more than worth joining; I’ve loved nearly every second of it.
