Freaky Furries In Pittsburgh: Five Things You Need To Know

PITTSBURGH, PA - Prepare to see a lot of freaky fursuiters Downtown this week. Anthrocon, the nation’s largest annual gathering of anthropomorphic enthusiasts, will occur again at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Thursday through Sunday.

More than a thousand of the attendees are expected to appear in animal costumes. That begs the question: What’s the proper etiquette around someone dressed as a fox, lion or squirrel?

For answers, we turned to the Anthrocon website. Here’s what the furries themselves recommend:

1. Be careful around suiters, they have limited visibility
Most fursuiters can’t turn their costume heads. In most cases, suiters are looking through "tunnel vision" eyes that only let them see a range of about 10 percent of what a typically attired person can see. They can be easily injured, so always try to approach a fursuiter from the front.

2. Never impede suiters in motion, they could be dehydrated.
Costumes typically enclose the body and the head, trapping all their body heat and usually causing profuse sweating. The temperature inside the head of a fursuit can easily reach 110 degrees in minutes. So suiters need water and cooling facilities frequently. If you see a suiter motioning that they need to leave a location, don’t stop them.

3. Respect the work and money put into the costumes.
Some people spend thousands of dollars on their fursuits. Others have constructed their fursuits over many. Some suits may have special technical components or animatronics in them. So don’t hit, strike, or roughhouse with a suiter.

4. No scratching or scritching.
Many suits are now being constructed with more expensive and finer furs. Scritching or scratching a suit can ruin the fur. It can get matted, pulled out, knotted, or otherwise damaged.

5. Petting is permissible.
Petting the fur of a suit is usually fine, so long as you've been given permission to do so. But please be certain that your hands are clean. Lightly colored fur will show any mark or blemish.

Feature photo by GreenReaper via Creative Commons. All other photos by Burgh Baby via Creative Commons.