The full moons affect on behavior could be argued by many I am sure, but I am a firm believer that yes, a full mood has an affect on animal behavior. Dogs are more apt to bite, cat's become stalkers and police make more arrests when a full moon is present.

Defining lunacy is to mean insanity and that comes from the Latin word moon. Well that should begin our venture into why the mood has a crazy effect on animals. Many of the studies performed to see the result of behaviors are inconsistent. Some behaviours increase around the time of the full moon while others do not change at all. When performing these studies, it is important to not let the test subject know that you are studying the affects of the full moon because that may alter the results. With animals although they are not aware of what you say so to them it doesn't matter!

Many health related things change for humans around the full moon, but what exactly does it do to our furry pets?

Wolves howl at the moon, generally a full moon. You see it in movies and well I can vouch that it is real. I grew up in the country, really close to the woods and we also had an Alaskan Malamute. Every month around the full moon, this old wolf would come up with our Malamute and howl at the moon together. You should have heard the other dogs in the neighborhood barking at them. It was defiantly a portrait moment. It's little things like this you don't forget.

Our cats become crazy around the full moon as well. They attack each other, hiss at nothing in the house and have the fur on their backs raised and wander around here like somethings out to get them.Veterinaries and animal shelters will tell you that their shifts get more hectic with the changes in the moon as well. More stray dogs are brought in, the animals are just crazy with energy and fear. Honestly, there is nothing you can do to relax your pets either. You just have to wait patiently for the moon to pass.

Not only are the behaviors of the pets different, vets also see more unique pet owners come out as well. Some owners will bring their pet in to the vet's because they are eating a little bit less than usual or due to the pets hyperactivity around this time. Pets, like humans will sleep less around a full moon as well, theory has it though that this is simply due to the lighter atmosphere from the reflection of the moon.

TO each his own, but for me although the changes are more prominent in humans around the full moon, i think it's entirely possible for animals to be affected by the moon.

Learn more about this author, Callista Meyer.
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