Here is one more 'photo-op' taken at "Pawpet Megaplex 2003" - at the Sheraton Hotel in Orlando, Florida - as part of my latest 'Throwback Thursday' offering...

Even though this annual 'furry convention' features 'fursuiters' and 'pawpets', once in a while someone brings along a real-life animal, just to keep things a little bit more interesting. (In past editions of "Megaplex" I'd attended, I had seen people bring in real lizards, a (descented) skunk, and even a Florida panther hybrid (the latter critter appeared, to bring awareness of how endangered certain rare animals are).

At the 2003 edition of "Pawpet Megaplex", a trainer (right) brought in a live raccoon (on his shoulder). And even though the masked critter appeared to be friendly, his trainer insisted that no one approach it, as he can still bite and/or scratch.

Truth be known, as much as some people would love to have a wild animal as a pet (especially here in Florida), they are just that: wild animals! South Florida is still suffering repercussions from the abandonment of such exotic pets as Burmese pythons (which is wrecking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem) and serval cats (in the streets of Miami).

Let the wild animals live in the wild, and inspire the rest of us to create anthropomorphic versions of them (that we can get along with)!

BTW, for more information about the 2014 edition of "Megaplex", held this July in Orlando (with the theme being "The Candy Factory"), go to this link: https://my.megaplexcon.org/