Caedmon MacKenna is a badger whose species reputation for devastating physical violence is replaced with his equally devastating razor-sharp wit. A political science major working slowly on his doctorate in the field, Caedmon is the self-described “bright, uncompromising, semi-socialist, politically aware wise-ass.” Voted Most Likely To Tell It Like It Is, he can be calm and reasonable, but he won’t suffer fools gladly, and compared to his mighty mental capacity, there are a lot of fools out there. This constant reader usually has his muzzle in a book and averages a book a week since his early teens. He hails from a not-quite-rural part of Iowa, where he discovered that dairy farms and politics both produce and run on the same odiferous, bovine-generated material. He’s a good friend and loyal to his household; were he not, he’d probably have slapped Theo silly for the tiger’s puns by this time.

Theodophilus “Theo” Ethrie is the joker in the pack. A computer whiz who works for the Last Hope Help Desk and lives on video games, web comics, soda, and junk food, he’s a friendly and happily random soul who lives for the joy of the moment and the pursuit of the particularly painful pun. He discovered his furry self when he was a child; becoming his furry self in the house was his greatest dream come true. Even when he’s in human form, Theo is still somehow feline; feral cats of any size or description seem to know he’s one of them. He’s coaxed more kittens out of trees than any dozen fire departments put together, and big cats at any zoo enclosure will get as close to him as they can whenever he visits. His housemates seem to put up with his feline temperament fairly well. To get on his good side, give him skritchies. To get on his bad side, take the last of his pizza rolls from the freezer.

Lightfoot (James Gordon Stevens) is a full-blood Cheyenne Indian whose family is rumored to have some royal-like lineage within the tribe, but he’s never paid that any mind. Quite apart from some sort of jealousy effectively blocking this birthright, he was raised to think better of himself. Born and raised in San Francisco, where his “native grounds” were the stacks of the many pubic and campus libraries that he all but lived in, this clever red fox has taken no advanced degree as yet, but he still works as a much-treasured librarian at the local branch near his magical home. A word maven and autodidact, Lightfoot knows at least a little about nearly anything and everything, and his warm heart, shaman’s spirit, and silver tongue make him able to talk his way into and out of just about any situation. The first to lend a paw, the last to judge, and the best guy to go to when the going gets weird.

Ophelia Featherstone was a lawyer before she discovered that she was a skunk, but don’t think for a minute that either one predestined the other. Idealistic yet practical, she was drawn to the law to help prevent it from stinking any worse than it already does (remember, skunk musk is also the source of many perfumes). Not exactly a full-fledged junior partner at her firm, she’s quite happy to be taking on her lower-level clients at the office of Doolittle and Waite. Given the choice, she’d rather mediate than litigate, and she leaves work at the office door. Home is where she can be herself… in more ways than one. As for others knowing she’s furry, as far as the courts go, it would assume facts not in evidence. Although the eldest of her housemates, she’s not the “dorm mom”; in her book, each is his own fur. She is, however, a good friend who’s ready to lend an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on… and not at an hourly rate.

Sheila Graham is, by her own definition, “Australian born, Cockney raised, and continental in style.” A native of Melbourne, this giant red kangaroo is now a naturalized U.S. citizen working as an assistant manager in a large retail sports chain store and moonlighting in an amateur women’s basketball league (she’s got a devastating jump shot, as you might have guessed). Her full-ride sports scholarship to college here in the States got her a BA (double major) in psychology and social work. She’s considering going for an MSW, but for now, the work, basketball, and furry household balance is a good one. Liberally sprinkling her speech with fine examples of the “chitty” (Cockney rhyming slang) learned at her parents’ knees, you can count on her to perk up your dick’n’harry. (No, no — that rhymes with “dictionary” — mind out of the gutter, Listerine; this is a light PG-rated strip! Don’t go pullin’ our gals’ mystic, ya dag!)