Howling At The Moon

The first full moon of 2021 rises tonight. 

According to Native American tradition January's full moon is also known as a Wolf Moon.  Legend suggests that wolves howled more at this time of year due to winter hunger.  

Wolves have made their presence known around here on very rare occasion and what I know for sure is that with all the dang deer on the landscape if any have found their way across the ice to the peninsula they will not be hungry.  I fully expect that any howling I hear this evening will be from the resident coyotes.  Like their larger wolf brethren any vocalizations will be social in nature - locating pack members, reinforcing their familial bonds, defining territory and such.  

 

NASA image

Prior to European settlement the Lakota people know this as the Hard Moon, the Cree called this the Cold Moon and the Assiniboine fittingly refer to this as the Center Moon - the demarcation of mid-winter.

Watch for the moon to rise from the east at sunset tonight and tomorrow.  It will reach its highest point around midnight.  If you are an early riser you can locate the moon above the western horizon before sunrise. 

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear, winter night skies.

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