Well, one does ask the ineviteable question. What is a furry? I hate to be the one without a obvious answer, but it might help us to first examine the origins of 'furriness' . Looking in the good old Websters Dictionary (20th Century,unabridged 2nd edition) gave us the following:

 FurryAdjective, ; Comparative furrier; Superlative furriest

• Covered with fur; dressed in fur.
• Consisting of fur.
• Like fur, as in texture.
• Lined or trimmed with fur.

FurNo un.

• The thick, soft hair covering the bodies of certain animals
• A muff, neckpiece, trimming, etc. made of fur; a garment of fur.

Hmmmmm, close but no cigar. I guess ol' Daniel Webster wasn't furry at all. Actually the modern definition of furry can be found at the following sites:

 Peter Cat's Furry Info Page

Mongoose

 Tai-Pan FAQ

 Tai-Pan Essays on Furriness

 Furry Description/definition

Links to Written articles on various subjects of furry interest

A list of Animals & their species names

 Here's one definition of furry from Robert D. Parrish:

 The fact that something or someone is one thing does not preclude it to be another thing. I can be an electrician and a teacher at a zoo; a homosexual and a former military NCO with honorable service: and many other things all at once. Even if these things may seem contradictory to some people, they all are a part of who I am. Likewise I can be a human and an animal too: a man, a wolf, a coyote, a fox, a cougar, a raccoon, a stag, a dragon, and a red-tailed hawk. Perhaps not all at once, but at various times. None of these things I am define me in my totality, but they all are part of who I am. For example, sometimes when I work on equipment I can better take things apart or put them together when I rely solely on touch; I draw on this talent from my raccoon aspect. This would not make sense to many people in the world today, but it would to those steeped in the Animism of aboriginal cultures.

 Many of us have had special relationships in our lives with a person we love or admire. For some of us, a corner of us seem to become that person. This internalization could be something as simple as our own mother inside our head shaking her head disapprovingly at some of our antics. Or an admired figure in science or the humanities who lives in the mind of a student aspiring to a calling, and admonishes him or her to not give up when things are difficult. To me, animals are like that. Some animals in my life blur in to me in a way where I don't know where they start and I end. Walking alone in the woods, I am Fox, moving quietly. In the office with the plant manager, I am Wolf and he is Bison - he may be bigger than I am, but I look him in his eyes and stare him down. And so forth. This is not a role playing game to me in any sense at all!

 Here's another from Scott Kellogg:

 Just as every animal in nature has its niche that it can survive and thrive in, every human being has a niche that it can find and survive in. (That niche, of course, can change.) However, the personality of a person sometimes falls inside the similar boundries of an animal species. The way those animals survive and the strategies they use to do so are similar to the ways and means that the people of similar personalities survive in human society.

 Lionkingcmsl roared:

 The only advice I have is to tell the person/people you want to tell what furry means to YOU. My defintion may not be the same as yours on all counts. Of course in my case it was/is easier because a lot of people already associate my *other* with lions anyway. If you tell them that you identify with your phenotype and why, a lot of people may come around to see things your way and not think your strange at all. With some people it would be wise to describe Alt.Lifestyle.Furry as a newsgroup where the people like animals a lot and let it go there. Most people will see nothing wrong with liking animals, so no harm done.

 Shockwave says:

 I generally don't bother. But when I do try, I bring up the fandom as a subgenre of Science Fiction (and I usually warn that, like SciFi, there are a some dark corners.) I show Yerf.com and such as an intro into the art and stories. I rarely discuss the spiritual sides of furry with anyone.

 Whew! That was long, but some of my furry compatriots had to have they say, besides, I thank them for their insight on this vital topic. But I think its now time to add my 2 cents in too!

 Okay, here goes: (Mind you, it's 2:30 in the morning- so forgive me if I ramble on.......)

 Well I believe my furriness was evident from a young age. I always liked lions, watching them in the circus. As the years went by, I lost touch with that "inner fascination", being concerned with my daily mundane life. When the Lion King movie came out in 1994, I was - well for the lack of a better word - hooked!

 When I watched the Lion King movie, I returned to a place, tucked in the recesses of my mind, of such happiness and bliss. Of course I thought of it as a movie until about 5 years later. I found the alt.lifestyle.furry and alt.fan.furry newsgroups and read them in earnest.

 I realised that being furry helped explain a lot of things in my life that didn't make sense. I was happier when I realized that, "Hey! I'm not alone!" I discovered my love for animals was deeper than I thought. I noticed that my behavior to others did compare strongly to male lions in the wild. For example, if i was mad- I would let it boil without telling the other person and when push came to shove- i exploded in a rage of fury- such pure instinct and adrenaline- flowing through my veins. Like how a lion reacts when another male has invaded his territory.

 I am also a caring person- much like a lion who watches out for the members of the pride. When I started realizing how much of a lion I was, I was just amazed. After all, I always was much of a people person anyways.....

 In mid-1999, I saved for my first fursuit. I finally received it in March of this year. To me, the lion fursuit brings me closer to my desire to be the lion that I am. When I put on my fur- I become less Human.... I become more aware of my hearing and smell. It is a psychological shift- one which defies labeling. I act like a lion (like they do it on the Discovery Channel) and have a quicker pulse, yet I am more relaxed and stress free, then when I am not in my fur.

 Because of my lionish shift- I gained the will power and courage to leave a predictable dead-end fast food job- and apply for a new job in retail. I wish I had done it sooner. I am happier now, yet as a lion, sad- because- my family does not or cannot understand the happiness, joy, and wonders of furriness.

 Furriness can be a most positive shift for someone- in terms of self-esteem and determination. When you realize you have a animal spirit thats part of you, you feel closer to nature, and learn to be happier with less material goods and wealth, and desire a more simple way of living.

 I have learned to trust my feelings more and my raw instinct- because without it- I wouldn't be so sucessful at this time in my life right now. Furriness is a part of me- and no one can remove the lion called "Simba" from my soul.

 Thanks for reading this. It means a lot to me.

 Furriness Forever!

 Jeremy Normand, aka Simba T. Lion