In an Ashville, North Carolina park, two men were arrested over allegations of setting off an improvised explosive device, consisting of cardboard tubing and gunpowder, at the remains of the Vance Monument. They possessed these devices during the fourth of July celebrations occurring downtown. One of the two arrested, Chioke Fugate, is a person in the furry fandom known under the fursona name TechCoyote.

The identity can be confirmed via videos they had of themselves at the gun range matching the person photographed in the mugshots used in press reports.

Fortunately, no one was injured during this event. TechCoyote is current being held on $15,000 bond and is charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction and going armed to the terror of the people.

This review is part of my commitment to reviewing anthropomorphic literature during Furry Book Month.

Romance and sex have always surrounded travel, and the vehicles we use for it. Even in the age of mass transit, there's still a thrill in leaving the known behind and moving as a stranger among strangers.

A sense of movement, freedom and adventure pervades these seven tales of M/F erotica, each set in, or set in motion by, a different form of transport.

Self-published ebook, 2016, pay what you want.

Miara is a humanimal, a woman just like anyone else, except with feline features and some feline abilities … (blurb)

I cannot help remembering A.I.P.’s July 1977 movie of The Island of Dr. Moreau, with Burt Lancaster as Dr. Paul Moreau, the Mad Scientist who was uplifting animals into humanimals™, and downlifting humans into humanimals™. I don’t think that A.I.P. put out a single bit of publicity without emphasizing that humanimals™ was its own trademarked word. Fortunately, A.I.P. is gone now, and its trademark doubtlessly expired long ago.

Miara Cooper is a cat-girl.

I am mostly human, of course. I walk upright, have two breasts, and wear clothing. But it is impossible not to notice the domestic feline in my appearance. My eyes are green and my pupils are vertical instead of rounded, at least in the daylight. My pointed, hairy ears are on top of my head. My nose is small, upturned and moist. I have a small set of whiskers at the corners of my upper lip; just a little less than would make me look like one of those Chinamen in an old Looney Tunes cartoon. My skin is white, but it is barely visible under thick, dark hair. At least the hair is human-like: fine and light brown.Just longer and thicker than most human women have on the rest of their bodies. And I have a tail. It isn’t very long; only about seventeen inches from the base of my spine, but it was enough to get in the way of sitting and learning how to pee on a toilet when I was a child. (p. 5)

Miara’s parents were hippies who took part in a scientific experiment in gene splicing before her birth. Now, twenty-four years later, society is still figuring what to do about Doctor Finchley’s and his colleagues’ essays into cat-people, dog-people, fox-people, bear-people and so on.

I even heard of one poor kid in Canada whose parents spliced him to be part moose. Must have been painful giving birth to that one. (p. 6)

Fuzzy Business, by Amelia Ritner, Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, May 2013, trade paperback $7.95 (271 pages), Kindle $1.99.
Fuzzy Business 2: Fuzz Harder, by Amelia Ritner, Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, December 2013, trade paperback $7.95 (178 pages), Kindle $1.99.

Hank the Cowdog and the Case of the Dinosaur Birds is number 54 in John R. Erickson’s long running series of short novels for children featuring the misadventures of Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security.

The books are published by Erickson’s own Maverick Books, based out of his hometown of Perryton, Texas. The books are not unknown outside the area; but in the surrounding region, very few children grow up without encountering Hank and his humorous stories. The realistic depiction of life on a Texas cattle ranch as seen through the eyes of a vainglorious but not particularly bright ranch dog has also garnered many adult fans in the region.

The books feature illustrations by Gerald R. Holmes. However, this review is based on the audiobook version of the story, featuring Erickson’s reading. Erickson is a talented voice actor; the story is presented more like a radio play than a straight recitation, with Erickson playing all parts: human and animal, male and female, each distinctive and memorable. Quite a few fans, and this reviewer, feel that you haven’t experienced Hank the Cowdog until you have heard one of the audiobooks.

“Hank the Cowdog and the Case of the Dinosaur Birds”, by John R. Erickson. Illustrated by Gerald R. Holmes. Maverick Books Inc., 2009, paperback $4.99, CD audio book $17.99, paperback/CD combo pack $19.99, online audio $9.95.

Fursuiter Lemonade Coyote/Cyrus (Timothy McCormick) is reported dead after another vehicle broadsided his ambulance early this morning. He was 24. [tip: Scott J. Fox]

While not on duty, Lemonade enjoyed fursuiting. His suit's bright and vibrant pink and yellow was true to the name. He was passionate for sticking up for what was right; once saying his dream job was to be a homicide detective.

This isn't the first time that a motor vehicle accident has prematurely taken away a furry fan. Automobile accidents have become a leading cause of death in the fandom.

Valley Dog is a full-color on-line comic created by Michael Adinso Rebrekal, also known as Mike Folf. “Born and raised in the affluent and bustling capital of Washington, DC. The young Francis Gris knows of nothing but a life of strict and stern professionalism, shunned from the likes of artistically creative endeavors. This all changes when, for business reasons, the coyote and his family move across the country to the small town of Silvercreek, California. In order to maintain his lifestyle, Francis’ parents enroll him into Picasso Charter High School – the one school in town that is renowned for its emphasis on professionalism. However, it soon turns out that the school (and the town as a whole) is anything but.” You can find out more and get regular updates at — where else? — www.valleydogcomic.com.

image c. 2013 by Mike Folf

I hate stories that are so carefully constructed that a reviewer can hardly say anything about them without giving away spoilers. Well, Winter Games is set in Gold’s Forester Universe, although it is not connected to any of Gold’s other stories. It contains mentions of Millenport and other Forester locales. It is the fifth of FurPlanet’s “Cupcake” booklets, less than novel length.

Winter Games is a work of anthropomorphic fiction for adult readers only. (publisher's advisory)

Sierra Snowpaw, a 33-year-old snow leopard, checks into the Lonnegan Ski Resort, apparently just on a relaxed vacation although it soon becomes obvious that he is looking for someone. Sierra does not let the search distract him from having steamy gay sex with Bret, the resort’s pine marten desk clerk.

The novella alternates in short chapters between the 2012 “now” and 1997, when Sierra was a teenage student at Tartok Ecole Internationale in Europe, presumably setting up the explanation of whom Sierra is searching for and why, and why this person is avoiding him.

FurPlanet Productions, September 2012, trade paperback $9.95 (vii + 135 pages).
Illustrated by Sabretoothed Ermine.

Six of Bernard Doove’s last seven books have been set in his 24th century “Chakat Universe”. So is Flight of the Star Phoenix, but with a difference. These are the adventures of the starship Phoenix, captained by a coyote morph and crewed by just about every species in Doove’s universe. Chakats are included in the mix, although this is not really a chakat story.

This novel is really an assembly of the thirteen Phoenix stories that have appeared on Doove’s “Chakat’s Den” website. They are called chapters, but they read more like a collection of separate short stories. Although the book has an overall theme – in 2332-2337, the interstellar freighter Phoenix must prove itself financially profitable by its fifth anniversary or go out of business – it reads more like thirteen separate adventures during those five years, with individual beginnings, plots, climaxes, and conclusions. Fans of short, episodic starship adventures will enjoy this more than the fans of long novels. And the fans of Doove’s regular chakat tales will be very satisfied with it.

CreateSpace, November 2012, trade paperback $21.95 (388 pages). Illustrated.

Yes, there is still undiscovered Furry fiction out there. I ran across this now-twenty-three-year-old novel at the NASFiC in August 1999, and asked people about it there and at Aussiecon Three in Melbourne the next week. Nobody had ever heard of it, except for the dealer who was selling it, and Tim Powers who was accused of writing it.

By 2011, nobody in Furry fandom had still ever heard of it. It had gotten some notice in s-f fandom in 1989, though, as a totally psychedelic s-f novel. Locus said that the two pseudonymous authors were really the single Timothy MacNamara.

Illustrated by Ferret and Don Coyote with an introduction by John Shirley and a postscript by Richard Kadrey. Scotforth, Lancs., Morrigan Publications, June 1989, 295 [+ 5] pages, hardcover £13.95; ISBN: 1-870338-60-X.

Does anyone remember this story from a few years ago, about a coyote who wandered into a Quizno's shop, inadvertently starring in one of the best viral sandwich and drink ads ever?

"Roadrunner sandwich please, hold the mayo."

Across the world, wild and feral canines make cities their own.

According to a recent story on NPR, a large number of coyotes roam the streets and parks of Chicago. The 60 mentioned in the article are those monitored via tracking collars; there are many more uncollared ones. The tracking is part of research by The Cook County, Illinois, Coyote Project.

A new take on Wile E. Coyote is popping up in 3D shorts shown before Warner Bros. movies.

This short, "Coyote Falls", was shown before Cats & Dogs 2. Future shorts are expected before Legend of the Guardians ("Fur of Flying") and Yogi Bear ("Rabid Rider"). Extended versions form part of The Looney Tunes Show, airing from November on Cartoon Network.

Yippee Coyote, winner of the Fandom's Favorite Fursuit Fracas 2009

Yippee Coyote, one of the many suits of Californian fursuiter Jimmy Chin, has won the 2009 Fandom's Favorite Fursuit Fracas out of 326 entries. Yippee won with 327 votes to Frisbee's 283 – a lead of 44 votes.

Both links have pictures of the coyote aboard the train.

http://www.tri-met.org/pressrel/prfeb0203.htm

PORTLAND - An unexpected rider was spotted on Tri-Met's Airport MAX Red
Line on Wednesday, February 13 around 11:30AM. The small coyote boarded
at the Portland International Airport station. Port of Portland Airfield
Operations and Wildlife staff found the coyote and quickly released the
animal. Coyotes go out of their way to avoid humans and are more likely
to be afraid of people than vice versa. Tri-Met officials aren't sure if
[the coyote] had a valid transit fare.