We spent last weekend at our first Furry Weekend Atlanta, and had a great time meeting new artists seeing new creations. Such as… Wildlife Fuel is a full-color comic written and illustrated by Kelly Latham. It’s been an ongoing web-comic for a while, but now there’s the first issue out on paper! “During the summer between high school and college, Cent the Skunk works at Wildlife Fuel, a gas station that has crazy fun times, but even crazier customers. While trying to survive hectic and humorous retail situations, she must also navigate major life choices during this transitional time in her life.” Visit Kelly’s web site to find out more about this and other comics she’s created.

image c. 2024 by Kelly Latham

Fred Patten, the editor of Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction (Sofawolf Press, July 2003; republished as Furry!); Already Among Us: An Anthropomorphic Anthology (Legion Printing, June 2012); and The Ursa Major Awards Anthology: A Tenth Anniversary Celebration (FurPlanet Productions, June 2012), will have a new anthology published by FurPlanet go on sale at Anthrocon 2013.

What Happens Next: An Anthology of Sequels presents eleven new stories by fan-favorite Furry authors featuring their popular characters:

• M. C. A. Hogarth and her Alysha Forrest
• Brock Hoagland and his Perissa and Maelith
• Kevin Frane (Rikoshi) and his Iolite League
• Kristin Fontaine and the crew of the interstellar freighter Tai-Pan
• Michael Payne and Cluny, the sorceress squirrel with Crocker, her human familiar
• Jenner and Dr. Benjamin Rat, M.B., B.S. D.R.A.N.Z.C.O.G. F.R.A.C.G.P.
• Kyell Gold and a new tale of Argaea
• Elizabeth McCoy and her feline centauroid Kintarans
• Chas. P. A. Melville and his Felicia, the Vixen Sorceress
• Ken Pick and his Brigit Bunny on the planet of the foxlike Thalendri
• and Roz Gibson and her Jack Salem

I was preparing this announcement, but GreenReaper has given away part of it on Newsbytes.

Fred Patten, who has been writing Furry book reviews since 1962, and who edited the first anthology of anthropomorphic short fiction, Best in Show, in 2003, has edited two new anthologies of anthropomorphic s-f & fantasy that will both premiere in June 2012.

1. Already Among Us: An Anthropomorphic Anthology, will be published by Legion Publishing of Birmingham, AL on June 4. It will be available in a $18.95 hardcover and $9.99 trade paperback (x + 390 pages) [now $13.49], and $8.99 Kindle version, with a wraparound cover by Roz Gibson.
2. The Ursa Major Awards Anthology: A Tenth Anniversary Celebration, will be published by FurPlanet Productions of Dallas, TX. It will go on sale at Anthrocon 2012 on June 14, as a $19.95 trade paperback, x + 380 pages, with a wraparound cover by Blotch.

Today’s feature in Mumbai-published Animation Xpress, a daily newsletter on all things animated in India, is about a new video game called Smell Raiser starring Spiffy, an anthro young skunk. (Also Tap Tap Sushi, for gamers who are also gluttons for sushi, but there is nothing anthro about that one.)

The official launch trailer for Smell Raiser was posted on YouTube on May 11.

Founded by industry veterans Ninad Chhaya and Chirag Desai, Mumbai based Playcaso has thrown its hat in the ring with the release of two games Tap Tap Sushi available on the iOS and Smell Raiser available on iOS [$0.99] and Android [free] platforms.

Smell Raiser is a side-scrolling, adventure game having Spiffy- a swift and energetic skunk on a mission. He wants to explore the lands of the unknown and travel as far as he possibly can. Using simple jump combination controls, help Spiffy collect stars, activate combinations and evade the creatures of the exotic. The game includes three exotic colorful environments with full retina graphics. It is a simple but skillful ‘one-touch’ control, endless game.

Unfortunate news from Metro Detroit this week: On Thursday, a pair of rabid skunks were destroyed in the suburb of Royal Oak, causing the police to issue a warning to local residents. [WXYZ-TV - Channel 7 Detroit and WDIV-TV - ClickonDetroit.com]

The Royal Oak Police say the skunks were found on the 1700 Block of Maxwell Avenue and the 200 block of Dewey Street, near Oakview Cemetery. Numerous calls were received from concerned homeowners in the highly-built-up residential area. The police said those coming into contact with an animal who they suspect may have rabies should leave the area and call them.

Read more: Information on rabies from the Oakland County Health Department and Wikipedia.

When Florida's Fish and Wildlife in West Palm hadn't recieved more than one skunk nuisance call in 8 years, they were worried. Sure, it was good that skunks weren't getting into garbage cans or nesting under people's porches, but skunks are an important part of Florida's ecology, eating rodents and insects, and themselves being eaten by such creatures as owls. But skunks are alive and well all over Florida, though they grow less common the farther south you go. A general call out on the F&W website recieved 1,820 replies of skunk sightings and sniffings. A survey of 1000 biologists, animal control people and wildlife rehabbers didn't reveal such overwhelmingly positive results, but still, skunks don't seem done for yet. Todd Axten, one of the nuisance animal control people asked, was worried when he heard skunks might be endangered in Florida. A former pet skunk owner, he has a 'soft spot' for skunks. "They have that ferret face. They're a big fluff ball."

Trying to find Sabrina Online and getting TCP errors? After the fourth
day of my ISP telling me "The system was unable to communicate with
the server," I tried the old address. Apparently, Eric W Schwartz is
moving to another server. The December comics can be found at --
http://www.coax.net/people/erics/Sabrina.htm
...until sabrina-online.com is back ahem online.

It makes sense... After all, the dear little critters already have a natural racing stripe. Read all about county fair skunk races at boston.com.

In 1998 a comic strip began known as Satin & Silk, based on a pair of female skunks stranded on Earth. This strip was then joined with other strips and was lost for a short time amidst them, put on the backburne. Satin and Silk has now resumed, and is being updated three times a week along with other strips starring the sister skunks on Cyantian.net