Why, huh? Well, kind of... Not sure. I knew I was a furry after I researched them a little online and saw some of the forums and the like. I'd drawn anthro art since I was very small and I used to pretend I was a cat all the time. I have a very feline nature, partially because the Jaguar is my life totem. But a jaguar fursona didn't fit me. the Jaguar may walk with me, but I am not it.
When I joined the furry community proper, I felt a little weird about not having a fursona. Everyone else could say "I'm a _____" and show off pictures and the like... I wanted to be able to do that as well. So I tried to design myself a fursona for a while. It didn't work in the slightest. I got some wonderful characters out of it, but nothing really resonated with me. Eventually, I gave up on it.
About two days after I gave up, I read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass in the space of an afternoon. The Cheshire Cat grabbed me. I drew a picture of a saucy Cheshire I dubbed Alcide in my English book shortly after. That drawing evolved not into a fursona just yet, but into a character. As soon as I had Alcide's sheet written up, it hit me that *this* was *it*. So I never really picked my fursona species so much as I fell into it by accident. Finally, though, I'm comfy in my fur.
I guess I should say why the Cheshire, too... Well, they're philosophical, zany, impossible, fundamentally catlike and sentient, playful, confusing and just about everything else that describes me. I love that they're sort of an intermediate between animals and people as it is... They're both wild and civilised. Bottom line is that Cheshire Cats are felines with an intrinsic twist towards the pleasantly insane. It suits me well. : )