OK, folks. Let's just file this under "well, whaddaya know" category.

A 45-year-old Fort Collins wife and mother (yes, Fort Collins, the home of "balloon boy") was sentenced "to 10 years to life on sex offender intensive supervised probation" for engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy she met at a "furry" gathering - a social occasion for those who enjoy dressing up like animals.

"She must also perform 200 hours of public service, submit to 120 days of electronic home monitoring and must register as a sex offender," on Thursday, according to Denver's Channel 7 News.

Richael Michels was arrested on the charges last July. Four months earlier, she had met the victim at the "furmeet."

The Furry movement, although incredibly small, brings up a lot of opinions. The desire to inhabit an anthropomorphic identity that is part-non-human is an ancient one; you need look no further than the myths and legends of the most ancient societies. There is a small but intense fraction of the subculture that gets sexual satisfaction from interacting with other "furries," in person or online.

It's a big, wide wonderful world out there, and what you do in the privacy of your own home is fine. Just make sure you check your partner's birth date before you start.

And yes, of course Monty Python already thought of this!

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