I just need to tell you all...

It's a common misconception that it's the earth's shadow, not that we're seeing a half white/half black sphere at different orientations.

Kaela, clearly I need to ask more probing questions, LOL!

Sorry guys, I'm obsessed with my class right now!

Sort of back on topic, I think one thing I'd like to do right with this class is acknowledge that there are real patterns and correlations which lead to some beliefs which are now known to be superstition. Take the full moon, there is one really glaringly obvious difference -- it's a LOT brighter. That's bound to affect the behavior of any sighted species at some level, and those that are affected strongly by light/dark even more so. Doesn't mean it's magic.

If we really wanted to investigate this and see if there is a correlation, we'd all keep a daily journal for a year, developing a consistent notation for "mood", "activity" etc. and making our best effort possible to ignore the phase of the moon. Then we'd compare the data. But it is really hard to be an objective observer in a case like this and I can't see how to do it double-blind! Well, I suppose we could all shoot video every day and have a third person view it in a randomized order, score it, then put it all back together again... but I think that might be more trouble than it is worth!

LOL Dusty. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Wellllllll...... FWIW, I typically don't pay a damn bit of attention to the moon unless I happen to be camping or planning walk at night in the park where there are no street lights. (Yes, we have a State Park very nearby where I can take advantage of things like that. I can even listen to the coyotes yip-yip-yipping. It's magnificent.) ANYWAY, the ONLY reason I even made the connection this time is because we happened to be out after dark, it wasn't overcast enough to block the moon, and we happened to be driving east at about the same time the moon was rising - and the only reason all of these things took place was because the birds were making me nutso. Otherwise I'd never have made the connection.

It would be very easy for me to talk on here about my birds noise and activity levels and completely forget that we even HAVE a moon in Colorado for the most part... Then at the end of the year go back and compare it to a moon calendar (or whatever it's called) and see if there was any correlation. For that matter, we could just set up a single forum and each of us could journal how crazy, loud, cranky, whatever... NO, WAIT, even better: Each of us could journal the volume and activity level - of each of our birds - Then we could compile data in a year and see what comes up.

I know - there wouldn't be anything scientific about it. As with most of my moon-bat beliefs, it's all anecdotal (L&D IS busier and the ER IS crazier when there's a full moon - ask ANY ER or L&D nurse!), but anecdotal evidence is evidence, even if it isn't double-blind and peer-reviewed. No, I'm not discounting the need for professional scrutiny in research. I AM a medical professional, whether or not I play one on TV, and I fully sympathize with your "quivering skeptical scientist hairs," but the fact remains that there are some things that we simply can't explain. Some of those things are complicated, but sometimes they're as simple as, "Why do my parrots go ape-shit crazy in the day or two surrounding the full moon?" (Or why are critical care units crazier at the same time? Or why can some people just "know" that a baby is going to "crump" in the next hour or two when everything now says that it's just fine?). What is intuition? What are feelings? Stories? Where do those come into play? As much as we'd like it to, the entirety of the human experience cannot be summed up by the scientific process.

being bi-polar, i found it worse during a full moon...actually my wife noticed it...she says at work she finds the same thing...


dusty

VickiNumbers wrote:

As much as we'd like it to, the entirety of the human experience cannot be summed up by the scientific process.

But that which can, can. I have a pretty clear defining line in my own mind about which things science can and cannot address. The existence of God or the possibility of some form of life after death are examples of things science cannot address, essentially by definition.

I hope I'm not coming across as annoying, but I think this particular topic is one that can be addressed scientifically. We may not yet have all the data or a correct explanation, but I think we could certainly in principle collect data, establish the presence or absence of a quantifiable correlation and investigate potential causal factors.

The phases of the moon are purely a matter of sun-moon-earth geometry and the main measurable effect is light levels. This presumably also includes non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and probably changes the spectral composition of the light due to reflectivity properties of the moon at various wavelengths. That could affect animals physiologically at some level, or psychologically, where the mental-physical connection plays a role that is not well understood in humans let alone animals. It is a measurable, real phenomenon, however.

Nothing much else changes other than illumination and timing of the illumination (the moon is overhead at noon when new and at midnight when full). The gravitational effect of the moon is negligible to start with and changes by even less. Magnetic field is not significantly affected.

One of my favorite quotes is "The plural of anecdote is not proof". The plural of anecdote can be a reasonable suggestion to seek proof, but it is not in and of itself proof. I think whenever there is a measurable phenomenon it is worth studying it to understand why it happens that way. I consider it an as-yet-unsolved mystery but not an insoluble one.

I have learned so much today in Paradise...

Oh Deb, you are so far from annoying I cannot even begin to put it into words! I completely enjoy conversations like this and have missed having them since I've been out of healthcare. Later today (when I'm not typing on my phone) I will send a more comprehensive reply but for now I wanted to be sure it was understood that this is GREAT!

And Poe, you'll ALWAYS learn a lot in Paradise!!!

Lunar Phases have always played a large part in my life as a commercial fisherman. The same is true in hunting (movement,breeding cycles,etc.). If you follow the Farmers Almanac most crops should be planted at certain moon phases.I understand the phases as they relate to animal activities and movement (spawning on full moon because of higher tides, or being found higher in the water column on a full moon because the light concentrates plankton near the surface). Why does it also effect planting ? Mayan calenders predicted planting times based on lunar phases so there must be a reason why. Maybe most life forms have some obscure lunar clock ticking in the background.

I can tell you the coyotes are thick on nights where the moon's full.

I don't think they're any thicker , just more vocal. LOL

GO, hang on there.
Chico learned somehow... crying. Crying make me have chicken skin and there is no way to not respond.
That little flea is now using that crying thing, when she wants attention. It sounds like human - baby crying. How bitchy I have to be to pretend I don't hear that? Little terrorist!

Oh yeah, Eric screams like a sun conure.

I've learned to whistle like a cockatiel. It drives them craaaaazy!!

Mine whistle back to me!
Maybe I should learn to cry back to Chico, to make her stop