This work is supported by the generous backers who adore my cat stories at Patreon.com/amberunmasked and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and projects. If you’re wondering why the case file milestones do not coincide with the “Year” of our investigations, it’s because I began formally documenting our adventures May 30, 2017. We’re on case 36 of Year 8. After case 52, we’ll roll over to Year 9. In the early years, everything was written at my personal website. After migrating the Oliver and Gus stories to their own site, I have had to go back through each one to fix WordPress bugs—this is a long project which is still not completed. Thank you for joining us on these wild adventures and investigations!
Where We Left Off:
Gus and Oliver had the most incredible case for their 400th milestone! There was a celebrity graffiti artist. An art heist. The cats learned the Joy of Painting for themselves!
The Full Fox Moon:
This week, people and animals in our part of the hemispheres (northern/western) are preparing a highlight in the month-long wonders of the 2025 planetary alignment (using “planetary” as a generic buzzword because it involves other celestial bodies). Gus has been our night watchman during the winter. He requires his Batman Time no matter how cold it is.
I’m interested in this rare display of our little galaxy in the vastness of space. I confess that I have not gone outside at night to see the sky. I’m curled up in bed by dinnertime in order to spend time watching TV and reading. The “big” day is January 21, 2025. Let’s see if I manage to get outside for that.
“You didn’t even celebrate the full moon,” Oliver reminded me, but I think there was a bit of a scolding tone the way he said it. He’s right. I rarely do full moon esbats anymore. I can see the moon sometimes from the bedroom window or the balcony. If not it’s not terribly hot or cold, I’ll take the camera and tripod out in attempts to get pictures. I take a few minutes to stare at the breathtaking luminance before getting back to whatever I was doing. I especially love it when the trees are bare and branches are in front of it.
Gus entered the office to make sure he was not missing any crucial attention, playtime, treats, or catnip.
“Are you talking about the full moon?” he asked.
I filled him in. He didn’t give me any slack at all. He said, “You know, my neighborhood watch time would be better if I could get unobscured views from every direction.”
“We’re not getting permits for that or paying for it.” Although I agreed with him wholeheartedly. I would love a widow’s walk on top of the house, but this is the wrong house in the wrong place. The Grumpy Old Man spent an absolute fortune (to me) in getting the generator installed. There’s one permit inspector for three counties!
Gus got the topic back on track. “It was technically the Full Wolf Moon, but we didn’t have any wolf or werewolf visitors that night.”
It’s true that we didn’t have any wolf activity right here, but the names of the full moons aren’t specific to New Jersey. We don’t have wild wolves around here. They’re kept in sanctuaries for their protection because some people think they make great pets until the state finds out and takes them away. We do have coyotes and foxes if you want to talk about similar canids. The coyotes haven’t been around since the Fall. The foxes, however, they’ve been here a lot.
“Perhaps it should be renamed the Full Fox Moon?” Gus theorized.
Oliver wanted to know who we would contact about suggesting that change.
“I don’t know who to pitch that to,” I was being a bit facetious, “NASA? The Farmers’ Almanac? Wikipedia?” To be honest, I’m not sure where the real origins came from for the full moon names because The Farmers’ Almanac says they’re traditional “Native American” names which makes the indigenous people of North America now as a monolith. I believe there are over 800 recognized tribes. The publisher has acknowledged this:
While there might have been some variations in the names from tribe to tribe, a strong sense of consistency resonated among the different regions. On this rich cultural backdrop, European settlers arrived and embraced the custom, weaving in some of their own versions into the tapestry of time.
What’s interesting is that our friend, Thomas Pluck, has a strong affinity for foxes. One is a main character in his book, Vyx Starts the Mythpocalypse. The fox, Tod, loves disco fries. Gus hasn’t had the chance to try them, but I think he would love them too. He’s quite curious about the humans’ foods.
From all of our research, it seems January’s full moon was named the Wolf Moon because it was a good time to hear wolves’ howl. During our trip to the Howling Woods Farm, we learned that wolves don’t actually howl “at the moon.” It looks that way because they have to raise their heads in order to get their vocal chords and throats in the proper position to make that bellowing and reverberating sound. Pretty cool, eh?
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Full Moon Calendar 2025
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|---|---|---|
| Full Moon Date | Native American Name | Time of Full Moon |
| January 13 | Wolf Moon | 5:27 PM |
| February 12 | Snow Moon | 8:53 AM |
| March 14 | Worm Moon | 2:55 AM |
| April 12 | Pink Moon | 8:22 PM |
| May 12 | Flower Moon | 12:56 PM |
| June 11 | Strawberry Moon | 3:44 AM |
| July 10 | Buck Moon | 4:37 PM |
| August 9 | Sturgeon Moon | 3:55 AM |
| September 7 | Corn Moon | 2:09 PM |
| October 6 | Harvest Moon | 11:48 PM |
| November 5 | Beaver Moon | 8:19 AM |
| December 4 | Cold Moon | 6:14 PM |
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Full Moon Calendar 2026
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||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon Date | Native American Name | Time of Full Moon |
| January 3 | Wolf Moon | 5:03 AM |
| February 1 | Snow Moon | 5:09 PM |
| March 3 | Worm Moon | 6:38 AM |
| April 1 | Pink Moon | 10:12 PM |
| May 1 | Flower Moon | 1:23 PM |
| May 31 | Blue Moon | 4:45 AM |
| June 29 | Strawberry Moon | 7:57 PM |
| July 29 | Buck Moon | 10:36 AM |
| August 28 | Sturgeon Moon | 12:18 AM |
| September 26 | Harvest Moon | 12:49 PM |
| October 26 | Hunter’s Moon | 12:12 AM |
| November 24 | Beaver Moon | 9:53 AM |
| December 23 | Cold Moon | 8:28 PM |
Case Findings:
The only primary source we could find for why the full moons are given the specific names they have is from The Farmers’ Almanac. This is a wonderful old publication and I’m glad it still exists. It’s also very United States-centric and even so, I don’t know which part of the country it seems to take into considerations regarding the full moon names. Snow Moon, Strawberry Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Corn Moon… some of them make sense for a Mid-Atlantic state like New Jersey, but it probably isn’t relevant to states that don’t grow strawberries or have sturgeon. South of us, they would probably have a Crab Moon, Alligator Moon, Gekko Moon, Pineapple Moon. West Coast names might include Panther Moon, Wine Moon, Redwood Moon. It seems like an unusual list that isn’t inclusive of the entire continent of North America. You might even notice there isn’t a Corn Moon listed for 2026.
If Ollie and Gus want to call January’s full moon “The Fox Moon,” I’m not going to dissuade them. Maybe I’ll have to make that change in next year’s calendar.
Case Status: Closed
What would you name the Full Moons in your area?
