Dog Days of summer drawing to an end, will end on Aug. 11

Longtime Journal employee Regina Betts and I got to talking Monday morning about the Dog Days of summer. The conversation began, like many this time of year, with the two of us comparing notes on the humid weather we had last weekend. When she asked when Dog Days would end, I had to consult my Old Farmer’s Almanac, which said that they will officially end on Aug. 11.

Dog Days, which began this year on July 3, is considered to be the hottest and most humid part of the year. This time of year is said to be marked by general inactivity and sluggishness in people and animals. Ancient peoples began calling this time of year “Dog Days” because this period of hot weather usually started around the time of the rising of the star Sirius, which is known as the Dog Star.

As you might have imagined, there are a lot of myths and folklore about Dog Days. I’m sure that a lot of you have heard that snakes supposedly go blind during Dog Days. In their blinded condition, they are likely to strike out at anything that comes within range. I’ve also heard that dry weather gets snakes agitated with thirst, causing them to lash out at things they normally wouldn’t strike.

I’ve also heard the old wives’ tale that birds don’t sing during dog days. I’m pretty sure this isn’t true. I was walking to the shed to get the push mower Saturday morning and heard a bobwhite quail announce its presence. Later that night, I heard an owl hoot from the pine trees across the road.

As a side note, the sounds of the quail and owl reminded me of something I heard world champion turkey caller Eddie Salter say once about bird calls. He said that birds are all pretty much saying the same thing when they call out: “Here I am. Where are you?”

I’ve also heard people say that Dog Days is a bad time of year to go fishing. Supposedly, fish move to deep water and stop eating this time of year. I don’t know about the eating part, but it sounds reasonable that they would move to deeper, cooler water.

Other sources say that many southerners in the old days believed that ghosts and “haints” were more active during Dog Days. This belief is said to have led many to paint their porch ceilings blue like water because ghosts supposedly won’t cross water. I’ve also heard this keeps flying insects out of the house. Even today, you can go to the paint store and buy a gallon of “haint blue” paint because it’s a recognized shade of blue.

In the end, I don’t know how much stock you can put in some of these superstitions, but there may be a bit a truth to some of them. One thing is for sure, while I don’t complain about the heat, I do get hot and look forward to cooler weather. Like I told Regina on Monday, it’ll be Halloween before we know it.