First time I’ve seen one in real life. He was a fox.
It was an adult man, late 20’s or early 30’s. He had on huge fox ears and he was wearing (over his pants) sort of a fuzzy diaper with a huge fox tail attached to the bum.
The weirdest thing though was he was carrying a teddy bear fox that he had put sleepers on and he was cradling it like a baby.
Different strokes for different folks I guess, but it’s still pretty surprising to see.
Curious. Where do you live?
Edmonton, Alberta.
My first experience of a furry was at university (in Aberdeen).
There was a bloke who would go out to clubs dressed as a dog, and when he couldnt practically wear his dog (i mean we all know that a dog costume isnt suitable for everyday wear, right?) he would still have his “tail” tucked under his trousers 
I had to read that twice.
I believe the technical term is “stuffed.” 
You know, I sat here for a long time when I was writing out my post trying to figure out how to say what it was. My instinct was to say “stuffed fox” but then I thought people would think I meant he had an actual stuffed fox and not a teddy bear that was a fox.
I went for “teddy bear fox”. 
I’m glad you did. I would have guessed taxidermy if you had gone with “stuffed.”
The only places where I could say for certain I’ve seen a furry were also places where people who AREN’T furries can dress up like them as cosplays of things I’m not familiar with, so I can’t even say I’ve seen one for sure. 
I have seen a strip-teasing faun tho. He was funny as hell.
(He had on his “legs” of course, but was bare-chested with a long scarf that he did a sort of “dance of the seven veils” with. It was hysterical.)
Plushie.
A quick Google search suggests there are regular Furry meets at the Edmonton Mall.
Here comes what you were all probably expecting…
Not all furries dress up in animal costumes. You’ve probably met many furries and had no real way of knowing.
Kind of like being gay. You may have met many people who were gay but you never knew it, compared to a small handful of people who are “obviously” gay. Kind of like this guy was “obviously” a furry, there are others you’ve probably met in your life who just don’t outwardly show it.
/end public service announcement
Yes I know, but I likewise can’t say “oh, I met a gay person today” unless they were wearing a sign or have volunteered the information.
Besides, I class fur-suiters more like people who are unironically wearing kilts in public (and aren’t in Scotland or at a fancy-dress event or a costume party) as opposed to people who are gay.
Besides, I think furries are a *bit *more rare than gay people.
The term for a non-taxidermied, non-bear stuffed animal is “plush”.
Now that sounds awesome.
Right, I was just taking umbrage with the phrasing “saw the first one in real life”; the OP has probably seen several in real life and never knew it. That’s all.
Ahh, recreational umbrage. God-given-right, that is. Carry on! Umb away.
Fursecution!
I think what you saw may have been a lifestyler. Most furries are a bit more discreet about it, at least at the grocery store. :3
It’s stuff like this that gives me hope for humanity more than almost anything else. As one type of “harmless yet viewed as weird by the general population group” after another goes public, the ability for the masses to accept different does not equal evil is slowly bumped along and the world becomes a better place.
My personal mindset is far different than it was 10 years ago, which is even further than 25. I still despise evil and nasty people, but my experience has definitely peeled groups which I can only find to be different away from the core group of those who concern me, and has made the world a nicer place.
I know not everyone shares my view, but I find it interesting that as I age the ‘folks who would persecute Mr. Furpants’ seem to stand out as more odd than those who wear fur pants.
Where I live, the locals tried to burn down the mosque, calling it a "
terrorist training center".
Back to square 1.
Could be worse - could be Rhea County, which I think puts us back 2 squares every time they’re mentioned.