Raft, please check this (
http://www.jpct.net/forum2/index.php/topic,4127.0.html) thread out. I went with the path of greater resistance but indeed greater results (Egon's second option). But in doing so, I think that I may have exposed a bug in bones.
The model has been re-rigged and exported as a two-part model (submesh0 for everything opaque and submesh1 for the furry parts). It looks phenomenal. But it had three morph targets in Max. Of those, I only used one (which is properly listed in OgreMax both for the fur and for the body--same names all around (fur has an "Idle" for Skin, body has an Idle for Skin, etc.)) in my idle animation. I'm fairly certain that as I execute the following code, only AnimatedGroup.get(0)'s morph is being used.
model.animateSkin(frame, currentAnimation);
model.applyAnimation();
if (poseClipSequence != null)
model.animatePose(frame, currentPoseAnimation);//IT'S NOT NULL, AND THE MODEL IS BLINKING, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THE FUR'S animatePose() IS BEING CALLED
model.applySkeletonPose();
model.applyAnimation();