... Or just an animal they identify with, like a spirit or totem animal,, it's always some sort of majestic animal?

Usually like a fox or wolf or cheetah or lion or horse or... just something "cool".

I can probably guess... that the bigger, stronger animals have a positive image, and the small fluffy animals are just so gosh darn cute. Nobody ever really wants to be something like a badger or a trout or an earwig because it doesn't have symbolic significance, and those types of animals are rarely anything someone wants to identify with.

Questions:

-What's you're opinion about this?
- In all honesty, what animal do you think relates to you? Reasons?
- What animal would you LIKE to relate to? Reasons?

I see tendancy towards large predatory animals.

Indeed. I do as well... I guess no one wants to be on the bottom of the food chain...

well, having a worm fursona would spoil the fun, I guess?
I have seen rat/mouse ones though, but not a lot. I suppose that when picking a totem animal you might want to go for the more impressive parts of your personality, say, independence or intelligence, and just naturally end up with a cougar :P

And IN ALL HONESTY: the animal that represents me best is probably a spoiled-rotten kind of well-bred cat. The snooty kind.

I dunno, my totem is the water buffalo, but I've played a flamingo my entire adult life ... I relate to both, but I know I'm being guided and protected by the "black buffalo".

I had a long talk about this with someone, and he seemed to think people choose animals that are kind of like ... well more than they can chew, but close. Like, people are really more foxes but choose wolf. But the choice is from trend.

If you actually look at discussions about fursonas on furry forums you'll see a TON of indecision and people who have 5 or 6 fursonas because they can't figure it out.

I hadn't realized how many furries I knew whose fursonas entailed an aspect of a mythical creature. I've known a dragon, a moogle, a white tiger dragon hybrid, and a werewolf vampire hybrid, just to name a few. As for other animals, I've known a ferret, a raccoon, and several canines. Mostly canines, in fact. I freely admit that the weirdest out of all of those was the raccoon. When it comes to fursonas, I think that everyone is just trying to figure out who they really are, and identifying with an animal is how some people attempt to do it.

I think cats relate to me. I'm a very affectionate person, and the cats I tend to be around are also very affectionate and loving.

I suppose I would like to relate to a dragonfly. Not only are they my favorite animal (if you're including insects in with animals), but I think they are beautiful, graceful, and often overlooked.

Mine would probably some sort of cat. While I do think a lot of other animals are cool, when it comes down to it, I'm really more cat-like than anything else.

I lean towards house cat myself. I like to lay around in the sun and take cat naps lol. Really all animals big or small have some kind of symbolic thing to them.

I have a tendency to identify with beetles, if only due to their evolutionary heritage. But yeah. THat's still symbolic of something.

I find an equal number of people with more unusual animals, that aren't just those typically in the limelight. It somewhat disheartens me to say that i am also one who identifies with a wolf. I feel that because so many people say the same kind of thing, after a while, it lessons the claims right to be taken in a serious fashion.
I also have an affinity with the little old moth though...

Once apon a time my Fursona was ment to be a fish... that didn't look like a fish. I think i just wanted to be cool and unique when i was younger, now i'm not so bothered.

While my current fursona is a Unicorn (cause i just think it suits me), the animal i have a perticular connection to is the Seahorse... Seriously. I've got a secondary fursona who's a seahorse now as well. :)

I actually do find myself similar to wolves. The more I learn about them, the more I feel like they are my animal. Like wolves I live in a close group, my family, which I am very connected to. At the same time I like to be alone at times, and yet never truly be alone. I work together with my family to accomplish whatever tasks need to be done. I find that I have a specific place in the family order, and I tend to snap at my little sister if she ever tries to say she's at a higher level than I am. I'm very protective of my home, and I don't like having people in my home, even if they are friends. It makes me feel off and overly on edge.

On to the question of why people commonly pick the more majestic animals. I'm sure most people want to feel that they are powerful in some way, and saying that they are a big cat, or a bear, or even a wolf, makes them feel stronger or cooler in some way.

I've been noticing that a lot lately, about the whole fursona thing.... my boyfriend associates himself strongly to wolves as does one of his friends. What they characterize is: stubborn, strong-willed, dominant, temper, playful, enjoy sleeping in groups and such. They even associate their sex drives with the moon cycles, no kidding.

I used to at one time associate myself with a tiger, but recently I've changed quite a bit and don't think I'm quite that majestic creature I once was. Now I'm timid, introvert, craves attention from people closest to me, insecure, lazy, sleepy, quiet, cute.... So now I think I'm a much smaller animal, I'm not entirely sure what though

I think people like to identify themselves with wolves because they long to be seen as something majestic and magnificent. Same with predatory animals. Either they're warning people that they're violent and mean and nasty as hell, or they're trying to give themselves a more aggressive image in order to protect themselves.

I once had a friend told me they want to be reborn as a catfish, though he wouldn't tell me why. It was rather odd, but I liked that he picked a catfish. It was an unusual choice for an animal to represent him.

I'm not exactly sure what animal I identify as the best. Possibly a rat. Most people have negative views on rats, but really, they're awesome, though often seen as insignificant. They're very unique and clever and intelligent. They're also very sensitive and loving, and do their best to cheer their owners up.

I like to think that I identify with a raven, or even a cricket (even though it's an insect). The raven is because of an experience when I was a little kid. I was in the car on my way to an appointment for my heart, and I saw a flock of ravens take flight. I was very young, only about two or three, and I said, "Bird fly air."

I was told I couldn't fly because I didn't have wings, but I've always wanted to be one of those ravens.

Crickets because I find them to be incredibly fascinating. They're sneaky, they can be annoying, and they can also be very useful. Did you know that you can tell what the temperature is outside by counting how many times a cricket chirps?

But all in all, I'm not sure which one I identify with.

Thats true isnt it people do want to be related to the animals of strength or mysticalness.
I am the same as If I wanted to relate to an animal I would like to be a white lion, mainly because they are pretty and actually their skin tone of white is a defect not actually natural (so i've been told)
but if I was really to relate to an actual animal I think I would be a butterfly or a bird
why you ask, im an artist so I ask for freedom and colour, I ask for beauty and style I ask for romance and grace and all of these are held mostly within a butterfly and sometimes a bird.

My mannerisms mostly identify with cats, except I'm not nearly as graceful. But I maintain a lot of personality characteristics as cats and I have the same kind of duality as cats do. They strike me as a very balanced creature and I think that is why a lot of people associate cats with the spiritual world. They're inbetween, as people say. But I have always wanted to be a bird, or something that can fly. Mostly because of my element is air and I have always loved the sensation of flying whenever I dream about it. I used to identify with big cats, like jaguars, when I was younger and wanted something a little more majestic, but you can find majesty in just about any animal if you look hard enough.

When I pick a fursona (which happens rarely anymore, but hey) I choose a type of animal that would look good when I draw it. Something I can give an impressive look. Wolves, lions and other predatory/mythical animals are more fit for this than, say, shitflies or leeches.

Hell, i'd choose a bull if I did one.