been considering making a proper fursona recently, but i’m not sure what species(‘s) to pick. how did you pick yours? did it have to do with aesthetics, personality, or some kind of connection to that animal? all three? tell your story :)
I didn't pick my fursonas' species (genus, really) so much as it picked me. At some point during my teen years I suddenly began noticing fox stuff everywhere. Random unexpected appearances in TV shows, pictures in odd places, a nature documentary about foxes discovered while flipping channels. I realized I knew almost nothing about these creatures despite them being so common and culturally important, and that felt wrong to me.
So I resolved to fix that, and started reading up on everything fox-related I could find. The more I learned, the more I began to identify with them. The idea of these small creatures that lack the power and social benefits of their larger canine cousins and have to rely on their intelligence and evasiveness really resonated with me, the unpopular and oft-bullied nerd who didn't seem to have a place among the "wolves" of high school society. Even the fact that foxes are most often depicted as feminine, which bothered me at the time, became meaningful after I discovered that I'm transfemme.
damn, this is so whimsical and i love it. i wish i had an experience like this to help me lol, but i’ll probably just go with a cat since i’ve always liked them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You don't really need some deep mystical connection to your chosen species. A lot of people just pick an animal they like or have a fond memory of. It's also fairly common to change your mind a few times before you find something that fits, and to make more changes as you grow as a person. I myself went from blue fox feral to anthro blue fox to adding an arctic fox as secondary sona, which eventually became my main sona, and now I'm considering adding some weird seasonal shapeshifting genderfluid shenanigans to him/her/it because my identity is a bit of a mess right now.
Don't worry too much about getting it perfect on the first try. :)