WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT NOTE
The Dog Days of Summer
Everyone knows that the “dog days of summer” occur during
the hottest and muggiest part of the season. Webster defines “dog days”
as...
1 : the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry
weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere.
2 : a period of stagnation or inactivity.
But where does the term come from? Why do we call the hot, sultry days of
summer “dog days?”
In ancient times, when the night sky was unobscured by artificial lights and
smog, different groups of peoples in different parts of the world drew images
in the sky by “connecting the dots” of stars. The images drawn were
dependent upon the culture: The Chinese saw different images than the Native
Americans, who saw different pictures than the Europeans. These star pictures
are now called constellations, and the constellations that are now mapped
out in the sky come from our European ancestors.
They saw images of bears, (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), twins, (Gemini), a
bull, (Taurus), and others, including dogs, (Canis Major and Canis Minor).
The brightest of the stars in Canis Major (the big dog) is Sirius, which also
happens to be the brightest star in the night sky. In fact, it is so bright
that the ancient Romans thought that the earth received heat from it. Look
for it in the southern sky (viewed from northern latitudes) during January.
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Revised -- February 23,2006